


Because of you

by Violet_Witch



Series: Everbody lies in the cave [1]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, Young Justice - All Media Types
Genre: Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Sexual Abuse, M/M, Neglect, Slow Burn, Tim centric, Tim needs a hug, kon wants to know what's going on, no one notices tim, tim doesn't know, what is love and affection?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-12
Updated: 2018-07-12
Packaged: 2019-06-09 16:21:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 33
Words: 125,073
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15271443
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Violet_Witch/pseuds/Violet_Witch
Summary: When Kon gets a call from Tim out of the blue, he thinks it might just be his lucky day--up until he speaks.Kon is forced to reevaluate everything he knew about the team's resident Bat when his eyes are opened to the fact that his friend and crush might be hiding something big. Something he shouldn't have to go through alone.





	1. Undereactions and other such surprises

**Author's Note:**

> The title is from the Kelly Clarkson song, but the close second pick for this fic was numb by Linkin Park.
> 
> What's a timeline? I don't know! Seriously. Everything is happening at once, it's mostly set in Young Justice but doesn't line up with any of the shows events. But like, I'm aware that the timelines don't really line up even a little so don't hate.

“I need you.”

Kon’s friendly greeting died before it could pass his lips. Tentatively, as if it had turned to C4 in his hand, he pulled the phone away from his ear and stared at the caller ID. Sure enough, it still read **_Red Robin burner #3_** in bold white lines. 

He brought the phone back to his ear, listening for a moment in silence. He was dumbstruck. Completely lost for words. Red Robin, _Tim Drake,_ had just said he _needed_ Kon. How was that even possible? He was pretty sure Robin had never _needed_ anyone. He’d _required_ people when he needed specific skill sets for his plans, but this was something else.

Something bad.

World endingly bad.

Kon unfroze. “Are you alright?” He immediately started searching for Tim’s heartbeat, already excusing himself from the living room of the cave to walk towards the zeta-tube.

“Um… yes?” Kon noticed for the first time how ragged Tim’s breathing was. It was uneven and labored. He was definitely moving. “I mean, I’m fine. Mostly. It’s just-” he sucked in a breath with a grunt of pain that had Kon speeding up to get to the tube. “-I’m headed to Drake Manor now, but I think I’m going to pass out before I can stop the bleeding and… well, I’d rather not bleed out in my sleep.”

Kon’s eyes bulged out of his head and he finally found Tim’s heartbeat. It was fast and unsteady and definitely in Gotham. “Holy shit Tim!” he exclaimed, “What the hell?”

He could almost see Tim’s answering shrug. The same shrug he loved and hated. The shrug Tim gave anytime he was dismissing praise after doing something incredibly badass as if it was only the bare minimum of what was to be expected. Or when he was injured and refusing treatment. Basically it was his ‘I’m downplaying this’ shrug. “It was just a mugging that went sideways.”

Kon pinched the bridge of his nose between thumb and forefinger for a moment before shaking his head to clear it. “I’m on my way, ETA 3 minutes, so just… stay with me.”

“No!” Tim exclaimed. “I mean- don’t take the zeta tube to the Batcave. Get close and just fly in.” 

Kon huffed, ready to argue, but whatever arguments he might have made stalled when he registered the panic in Tim’s voice. Being stabbed had barely even worried Tim, but Kon beaming to the Batcave somehow scared him. 

Kon swallowed his protests and instead answered, “Ok. ETA 15 minutes.”

Tim sighed in relief and kept on breathing. Fast and shaky. He was still moving, but he was definitely getting slower. “I’m tired, Kon. I’m just… _so_ tired.”

Tim rarely slept and he was practically glued to a cup of black coffee at all hours of the day, but he never- _never_ admitted to being tired. If someone suggested it, Tim would wave them off and insist he was totally fine. Not this time.

And the way Tim said it… it didn’t sound like an admission to being sleepy. It sounded like someone who was tired of _existing._

Kon stepped out of the zeta tube, immediately launching himself into the air and flying towards Gotham. “Tell me about your day.” He cringed and quickly added, “You know, before the mugging.”

Tim’s steps all the way in Gotham faltered. “My… day?”

“Yeah. You know to keep you awake and lucid. That’s a thing, right?”

Tim snorted. Honest to Gods laughed. More or less. On any one else Kon wouldn’t have thought much of it, but Tim never laughed. He smiled that wicked Red Robin smile that both terrified Kon, and made his knees go weak. Sometimes he smiled for real too, but he rarely laughed. “Sorry Kon, I just… can’t actually remember the last time someone asked me about my day.” Before Kon could really process _that,_ a window slid open in Gotham. “I’m at the manor, I-”

Tim suddenly cut off, mumbling a string of curses Kon wasn’t even aware Tim knew followed by a heavy thump. 

Kon poured on the speed, pushing himself to fly faster, to get to his- to get to Tim faster. “Tim? You still there? What was that?”

“Can’t ‘ear you over the wind.” Tim’s words slurred, his heartbeat slowing.

Kon cursed thoroughly, colorfully, and in multiple languages. Ma and Pa would have synchronized heart attacks if they heard that. “I have to hang up now, I’ll be there soon, just- God, Tim, stay awake.”

Tim hummed in agreement even though he probably hadn’t heard Kon. Tucking his phone away, he put everything he had into getting to Tim as quickly as possible.

Unbidden, images of Tim rose in his mind. Tim all alone somewhere, bleeding out. Dying while he waited for Kon to show up. Dying because Kon didn’t show up in time.

He’d be lying if he said this was the first time he’d seen images like that. If he was being honest, he thought about it a few times every mission. Red Robin would do his vanishing thing and Kon would panic, images like that flooding his head until Tim suddenly reappeared, having done something incredibly clever that single handedly completed their objective.

He had visions like that with everyone on the team, but it was worse with Tim because of how much he just up and vanished. How independent he was. How little he accepted help. And they’d only gotten worse since Dick had taken Robin away from Tim and he'd become Red Robin. Kon still wasn't sure what had caused _that_.

It was no small source of pride for Kon that he worked the best with Tim out of anyone on the team. Together they were the most effective duo on the team. And more than learning to work together as a team, Tim had even started to stick around after missions to play video games and talk with the team. With Kon. Admittedly, he mostly observed and made dry comments that were both scathing and hilarious, but he stayed.

One unexpected benefit of that staying was that Tim hung around the tower in civies, not his suit. Not that the suit wasn’t fine, it hugged every curve and left little to the imagination. But civies… there was something about seeing Tim in a v-neck and skinny jeans that set Kon’s blood boiling. He suspected it was the miles of bare skin, or the long hair that looked incredibly soft, or maybe his collar bones that were visible in civies in a way that even the tight spandex, kevlar, and leather of his Red Robin costume couldn’t replicate.

Kon shook his head to clear it, a normally impossible feat made easy by his worry. He dipped down beneath the clouds to find he was there.

He circled once until he spotted the open window. Flying to it, Kon did his best to mentally prepare himself for whatever he was about to see. Without further delay, he slipped quietly into the room, and promptly choked on air.

The room was huge, bigger than his room at Ma and Pa’s three times over, and… empty. Well, not empty. The room was sparsely, but tastefully furnished. Not a single poster or trinket. Hell, even his bed was perfectly made and there wasn’t a single article of clothing in sight.

Still, the cavernous room had a sense of being empty. The kind of stifling nothingness that felt like a crypt.

Kon barely took in any of that though because he was stuck on the one thing in the room that stood out. The one thing that wasn’t color coordinated and tastefully curated.

Tim.

Specifically, Tim in his Red Robin costume with his cowl pushed back, strewn on the floor like he’d fallen there, which he probably had- the sickening thump Kon had heard played over in his mind- with a _knife_ sticking out of his lower abdomen.

Kon froze, staring at the prone body and the blood slowly pooling around it. His brain short circuited, completely shutting down at the sight of his worst fears becoming real right in front of his eyes, then it rebooted.

He walked automatically to the door across from him, easily locating a light switch and flipping it. The room flooded with soft yellow light from lamps, also tasteful, strategically placed around the room.

The light made Tim’s injury look even worse. 

The pool was relatively small considering Tim had probably been on the ground for five minutes at least. And it was spreading slowly so the knife hadn’t hit any major arteries. At least Tim hadn’t been so shocked that he pulled out the knife. The knife was saving his life right now. 

Tuning into Tim’s heartbeat again, softer and slower but thankfully there, Kon kneeled down next to him, taking in the gaunt face.

“Wake up,” he said softly, surprised by the hoarseness in his own voice.

Tim didn’t stir.

Kon tried again, louder this time, “Wake up!”

Tim moaned, his brows drawing together. “If you’re gonna murder me Jason,” he mumbled, slurring his words together again, “At least have the decency to let me sleep five more minutes before spilling blood on my... ” his voice trailed away as he started to drift off again, but this time Kon placed a hand on either side of his face and leaned closer until he could see each individual eyelash dusting Tim’s cheeks. 

“I need you to order me around. Tell me where your med kit is and what to do,” he said with eerie calm.

Tim’s eyes opened. They were clouded over and unfocused, but this time they stayed open. “Kon?”

Kon wanted to sigh with relief and thank the powers that be, but instead he settled for dragging a pillow off the bed and placing it under Tim’s head. “I’m here.”

“You… came.” Tim tracked his every movement with a confused gaze like he couldn’t quite figure out why Kon was there.

Trying to ignore the curious gaze and surprised tone, Kon responded, “You need me. Where else would I be?”

Apparently the injured boy had no response to that because he fell silent.

“Now tell me what to do.”

Tim directed him to a med kit in the bathroom (which turned out to be just as impersonal as the bedroom) which had everything he’d need. Getting Tim out of the Red Robin costume proved difficult. Tim wasn’t strong enough to even lift his arms to help so he had to verbally guide kon through the steps of disarming the traps on his utility belt so he could get it off. Then he unclipped the cape and located a zipper hidden under the collar. He pulled down the zipper half way only to find any further progress blocked by the knife.

After a string of curses and a brief explanation of the problem, Tim caught his eye and said, “Move fast.”

So Kon did. He counted to three and on two he pulled out the knife. Tim hissed in pain, but otherwise didn’t react. As quickly as he could, Kon unzipped the Red Robin costume, pulling it off Tim to the waist. Using the knife he had just pulled from Tim’s gut, he cut through the under shirt and discarded the pieces of it leaving him with Tim’s naked, and very much bleeding now, chest. Kon noted that he was pale all over, although that was to be expected with the blood loss, but also that he was terribly thin.

Kon put pressure on the wound, cleaning it and getting out the supplies to sew it closed. 

At that point Tim started to drift off again.

“I don’t think so. You are going to talk to me. Anything to keep you awake.”

Tim laughed without any real humour. “In case you hadn’t noticed, talking isn’t exactly my strong suit.”

Focusing on his task, Kon struggled to find a reply. “I don’t care. Talk anyway.”

A sigh. “Okay, about what?”

“Why did you call me?” Kon didn’t know the question was coming until it had already passed his lips.

Tim froze beneath his hands, his face going carefully blank with an expression Kon associated with him talking about his personal life or directly to the Bat himself. “I can call someone else next time.” His voice was quiet and completely unreadable.

Growled. Kon actually growled. “I don’t think so. There isn’t going to be a next time.” He finished sewing up the stab wound. “I need to sit you up so I can wrap it.”

Tim gave a tight nod and through teamwork and some amount of pain on both sides, they got Tim into a sitting position. Kon cleaned the wound again and started wrapping it.

To get the gauze around him, Kon had to lean in so close his chin brushed Tim’s shoulder. The process repeated for almost a minute before he was done. 

Carefully he lifted Tim up and moved him out of the pool of blood so it didn’t stain his bandages.

Kon was sitting back on his haunches, still breathing evenly, and admiring his handiwork, when he noticed the bruises.

The ones around Tim’s wrists in the shape of hand prints. Kon couldn’t remember ever seeing bruises in the particular location with handprints at that angle. Now that he was looking at Tim and not just the stab wound, he saw that Tim’s eye was red a puffy and his lip busted. A few other bruises littered his torso as well. A torso that was criss crossed with old scars. More than Kon had really been ready for.

Some were jagged and white like they’d never healed quite right. But most were pink, shiny cuts. Kon frowned. Anger was spreading through him like wildfire spread through a forest. Who had hurt his bird? He would find them, make them pay, he would-

Woah, woah, woah. _His_ bird?! Where had those thoughts even come from? Kon had a sudden flash back to the early days of Dick and Wally’s relationship. He shoved it aside almost violently.

It didn’t matter now because Tim had been watching his expression carefully and now pulled the pillow from behind him to infront where it covered his chest.

“Thank you Kon, but I’m probably not going to die anymore. You don’t have to stay.”

Kon dragged his eyes up from Tim’s abused body to his ice chip eyes. It was hard to read the tone. It could have been polite if somewhat cold dismissal, or it could have been wariness, like he expected Kon to explode. Possibly even disappointment.

Kon shook his head, gathering up the medical kit and packing it away. “I don’t think so. You’re thin as a rod and just got _stabbed._ It looks like you haven’t eaten in days and I refuse to leave you alone like this.”

He didn’t get to see Tim’s expression because he’d already stood up and was half way towards putting the medical kit away.

He was rooting around Tim’s closet for a shirt when he suddenly realized Tims breath was coming in erratic gasps again. “She’s-she’s gonna kill me,” he muttered, “No, worse; she’s gonna remove my spleen and feed it to me. And no one will even know, what’s another scar to hide? Better than the alternative- oh God, oh God, what if she finds out? So much blood. So much blood, so much bloodsomuchbloodsomuchblood…” Tim trailed off.

He’d pulled his knees up, wrapping his arms around them and rocking slightly. His eyes were glued on the pool of blood.

Kon hesitated, still holding the shirt in one hand. He was pretty sure Tim was having a panic attack. But who was ‘she’ and why was Tim so scared of her? And blood had never phased Tim before.

An image of Tim in his Red Robin costume, drenched in blood and smiling that smile that terrified and got him hot flashed in Kon’s mind. A memory and one Kon thought about a lot.

Trying to remember what he’d learned about panic attacks Kon approached Tim slowly, like one would a scared animal. “Hey,” he said softly, “You still with me? It’s me Tim. Kon. I’m here.”

Tim tore his gaze away from the blood to look at Kon, his eyes wide with fear and his hair wild. “Kon-” the name ripped from him like he’d been kicked in the gut, “She’s going to see the blood and she’s going to know what I am.”

Kon put his hands up placatingly, lowering himself to his knees a few feet away from Tim, carefully not touching him. “We can clean up the blood.”

“There- there’s so much of it. It’s going to stain the carpet. I can’t replace this carpet! It’s one of a kind, she’ll notice and then I can’t be Red Robin anymore.” Tim looked at the blood again, and Kon’s stomach fell through the floor. 

The thought of Tim… Tim not being Red Robin, terrified him. “Tim, I need you to focus on me and _breath._ ” He steadied his own breathing. “In.” Tim’s frantic eyes locked on him. “Out.” Tim breathed with him for a few moments. When his breathing had settled, Kon continued, “Just tell me where the supplies are and I’ll clean the carpet.”

Tim nodded distractedly, directing Kon to a supply closet in the hallway. The hallway was just as huge, tasteful, and crypt like as the bedroom.

Returning with the supplies, Kon quickly began cleaning the carpet talking to Tim as he did it. “We’ll clean this up and get you into bed. You’re thin as a rod, when was the last time you ate?”

Tim looked away from him, shrugging even as he winced at the action. “I… don’t remember.”

What kind of parents didn’t feed their kid? Ma and Pa spent 80% of their time shoving food on Kon. He biefly entertained the idea of kidnapping Tim and taking him to the farm for a few days so they could shove food on him, but he knew Tim probably wouldn’t allow it and Batman certainly wouldn’t. “Ok, you’ll have to eat something before you go to sleep.”

Sighing Kon finished cleaning the rug and stood up and glancing at the bed, debating the best way to get Tim onto it without disturbing his wounds. Eventually he gave into the inevitable. “I’m going to pick you up now. It’s the easiest way to move you without you tearing your stitches.”

Nodding his acquiescence, Tim allowed himself to be picked up bridal style with merely a hiss of pain and set on the bed.

“So… where are the bruises from?” Kon asked casually as he arranged Tim more comfortably.

Tim gulped.


	2. Lying and Secrets

Bruce didn’t know anything about Tim.

He didn’t know what happened at Drake Manor, he didn’t know about Tim’s parents, and frankly, he didn’t know anything about Tim outside of Red Robin at all.

Which was fine. Really. That was how Tim liked it. That was how it had always been and always would be if Tim got his way.

So naturally, Bruce didn’t know what happened on the Drake family ‘vacations’.

Tim had told Bruce- told all of them that the Drake family vacations were sacred, mandatory, and not to be messed with. They were week long retreats every now and then to paradise where Tim lounged and rehabilitated and slept. That’s what he told them.

And they’d always believed him. Sometimes he wondered if the Drake family vacations were the only reason they dismissed the long absences of his parents they were just barely starting to get a sense for. Or how little he slept and how much coffee he drank because as long as he had that reprieve, they were assured in his well being.

He was never quite sure how to feel about that thought.

The point was, he had been on a Drake family ‘vacation’ the last two days. His mother had handed him over with her usual cold smile and threats to have the client’s business bankrupt and his heart on a platter if he ‘damaged the merchandise’.

The client had damaged the merchandise.

Tim tried to hide the bruises on his wrists, but Janet Drake always finds out. She always knows.

She’d slapped him hard, splitting his lip and puffing up his eye for trying to hide it from her. He’d thought to himself that it was rather hypocritical of her and she must have heard his thoughts because she gave him a few other bruises too before shoving him into the cupboard and saying coldly that she would handle it.

She’d closed and locked the cupboard, leaving him in the dark.

It was a game they played. They both knew he could pick the lock and get out, but if he did, she’d be waiting with a punishment a thousand times worse. So Tim sat in the dark silence, resolutely ignoring the gnawing hunger in his stomach and thinking of all the different ways he could break into the Pentagon with just his utility belt to occupy his mind.

Time was hard to tell in the cupboard and Tim wasn’t sure how long it was until the front door opened and closed, signalling Janet’s departure. He swiftly picked the lock and stepped into the light.

He was going on 12 hours without food and only a trickle of water on the plane home before Janet had discovered the bruises and he was swaying on his feet, but another need pulled at him stronger than hunger or thirst.

He needed to go outside. He needed to see the night sky and feel the fresh air. He needed to have no walls, no ceiling, no silence. Just him and Gotham and the open sky.

So Tim ran upstairs and slipped into his Red Robin costume, unaware that it hung looser on him than normal, and slipped into the night. Not noticing or not caring about the tremor in his hands.

For thirty glorious minutes it really had been him and the air and the sky. Then he’d heard the mugging. Naturally he’d headed right for it, an easy save on a normal day.

It hadn’t been a normal day.

Tim had no one to blame but himself when the mugger’s knife snuck beneath his guard and buried in his lower abdomen.

No one to blame but himself that he had failed Bruce, Dick, Jason, Steph, Ca-

He had failed all of them. And on the way home when he’d realized he wasn’t ready to die yet, at least not like that, and he’d called Kon, he’d failed Janet, Jack, Kon, the team, and everyone else.

But even in his dazed state, Tim had known Kon was the only choice. Bruce thought he was somewhere with a rich cultural history sleeping like the dead, if he’d come to help Tim he would have found out the truth and Tim’s life would have been over. 

Dick was in Bludhaven, too far away to be of help regardless.

Tim couldn’t be sure if Jason wouldn’t have just showed up to watch him bleed out. Or maybe just screwed in the knife. Tim wouldn’t have stopped him.

The demon brat would have either hung up to ensure that Tim really did die, or he would have told Bruce.

Steph. Out of all of them, Steph certainly would have recognized the bruises. Steph would have figured it out as soon as he lifted his sleeve, and she was too far away for it to matter anyway.

And of course, Cass was in China. 

Any leaguers would have gone straight to Batman and the team could be said about the team. 

Kon had truly been the only option.

If he could convince Kon that the bruises were from the mugger and not to tell Batman- or anyone else, then maybe Tim could hide his failure. Tuck it away where it could only hurt him and not others. It was a nice thought anyway.

But then he’d gotten blood on the carpet. So much blood. There was no way Janet wouldn’t notice that. And she was smart. Smart enough to know he was lying if he told her it was an accident. She would want to know why he’d left the house. She’d punish him for not making it to the tiled bathroom before collapsing and she’d find out about Red Robin. She’d probably find out about Bruce too.

He’d failed them all.

And to top it off, Kon was asking questions. With each one he was screwing over Tim’s chances of lying and keeping secrets even more.

Kon… cared.

It was weird.

Tim wouldn’t have been able to work through it on a normal day, but considering how delirious he was feeling… he was screwed. Maybe Kon needed something? What did Kon have to gain for staying with Tim?

He’d been quiet too long. “They came from the mugging. Where else would I get them?” 

Kon glared. It was a lie. They both knew it. 

Tim was usually such a good lier, he lied to freaking Batman after all, but lying to Kon felt worse somehow. Kon made him want to tell the truth in the weird way that he also made him want to lie more than anyone else. That didn’t make sense.

Tim wasn’t making much sense though.

“I need to get you food. Will you be alright alone for a few minutes?” Kon asked, cutting through Tim’s rapidly spiralling thoughts.

Crushing weight pushed in on Tim from all sides. The closet. The dark. Alone. 

Alone.

Alonealonealone.

“I’ll be fine.”

Kon looked him up and down disbelievingly, but stepped away all the same. And then he was gone.

Gone gone gone.

Tim glanced around the cavernous room, the far to small room. He’d always been alone in this room. His mother had been in it a few times, but he’d still felt alone.

No one else. Not a single other soul had ever been in this room. Not his father. Hot anyone else. Batman had stood on the window ledge- once. Only once. But he’d never come inside. 

That was the only time Tim hadn’t felt lonely in the room. Terrified, in awe, and amazed, yes. But not alone.

“A year. 875 Brown Dr., white walls and mismatched furniture. Three coffee machines.” he closed his eyes and focused on the words, speaking into the emptiness. “Music. I’ll get a record player and have music playing constantly. Maybe I’ll get a fish. Or a cat.” His face twitched. “Maybe a cat will put up with me.”

It was something he’d been planning for awhile. Quietly, of course.

In less than a year he would be 18 and legally able to claim a hefty sum of money and disown his parents. He would leave this manor where it was always silent and he was always alone. He would probably still be alone, but he would be out of their reach.

That is, if he had the courage to go through with it.

The emptiness was easier to handle with this thought in mind. Knowing that he had a future where it wouldn’t be quite so awful helped.

Kon came through the window. “I got you soup because I wasn’t sure what you’d be able to keep down.”

He came over, helping Tim sit up and take the soup. It was chicken noodle and delicious. Tim drank it and tried to pretend neither of them could see the bruises that stood out against his pale skin and were uncovered by the short sleeved T-shirt Kon had grabbed him. He murmured his thanks.

“What’s at 875 Brown Dr.?” Kon asked quietly. In response to Tim’s shocked expression, he tapped his ear to indicate his super hearing which Tim had completely forgotten about.

He ran through a list of curse words silently and took a large gulp of soup to buy himself time. It burned, but he barely noticed.

Maybe it was because he just got stabbed and was in pain. Maybe it was because he was finally eating and slightly high on endorphins. Maybe he was just that exhausted, but he said, “It’s an apartment. One I’m going to buy when I’m older.”

Kon blinked. “That sounds… nice.”

“You sound surprised,” Tim responded deadpan.

Kon shook his head softly. “I am. Somehow I always pictured you living at Wayne Manor. Now I realize that was probably stupid.” he laughed softly. “Of course you already have a place picked out. Always planning.”

Tim laughed bitterly. “The Manor? Please.”

“It makes sense! Batman is supposed to be a father figure to Robin right? I mean the last two Robins lived at the Manor.” Kon defended. But even as the words left his mouth, he seemed to realize his mistake.

The first two Robins were orphans.

They both looked away.

Still, it was laughable that Kon thought Batman would accept him. That Batman had ever or would ever treat him like a son.

Kon cleared his throat. “That apartment sounds nice. Can you tell me about it?”

So Tim did. He told Kon about the coffee shop less than five minutes away with a nice barista who never asked questions. Told him about its proximity to Red Robin’s usual patrol and the buildings basement that wasn’t on any official records and could be easily concealed and used as a base. He even told him about the music teacher living across the hall that kept odd hours and practised her instruments loudly enough to fill the apartment with the most beautiful music at the strangest times. 

He kept talking until the soup was gone and he could hardly keep his eyes open.

Kon smiled at him with something soft and warm that made Tim’s heart twitch. “You need to get some sleep. Do you want me to stay? When you wake up you’ll need someone to help you with your stitches and-” he sniffed pointedly “-you’ll need a shower.”

Tim would have blushed if he had more blood. “T-that’s all right. I can manage. My parents will be home soon and having you here would raise to many questions.” Lie. Dirty filthy liar. Tim pushed the guilt into the same dark place he planned to hide his failure.

Kon bit his lip and Tim found it immensely distracting. “Are you sure?”

Tim nodded smiling tightly. “I’m fine.”

Kon looked sad for a moment before he wiped it off his face and replaced it with a stupid grin. “Okay, but remember, _I’m only one, call away._ ”

“Oh my God.”

“ _Superman’s got no-thin’ on meeeee,_ ” Kon sang.

Tim laughed, burying his face in his hands to hide the pain on his face from Kon as he did. It wouldn’t do either of them any good to admit how much his wound hurt.

When he finally looked again, Kon was smiling at him softly again with something like awe glimmering in his eyes. It was a look that made him feel like he was special. Important. He didn’t deserve Kon.

Shaking his head, Kon stood up glancing toward the window before looking back at Tim one last time. “Seriously though. If you need me, call me. I’ll be here. Everytime.” Kon said the words like he _needed_ Tim to hear them. To understand them.

And Tim listened to them like he was expecting a lie.

He didn’t find one.

Tim gulped. “Okay.” His voice came out hoarse.

Kon held his eyes for another moment before turning away.

“Wait!” Tim reached out and grabbed Kon’s sleeve, surprising both of them. _Stay,_ the word was on the back of his tongue and he didn’t know why. He swallowed it.

Kon half turned, his eyes seemingly stuck on Tim’s hand. It was the first time that night Tim had touched him. The first time they had touched outside of necessity too.

Tim let go, clearing his throat. “Please don’t tell anyone about tonight.”

Kon turned all the way around, blinking at him. “Even Batman?”

Swallowing, Tim answered firmly, “ _Especially_ Batman.”

“Why? You got stabbed helping someone. It’s nothing to be ashamed of, just an accident, happens to the best of us.” Kon frowned.

Tim couldn’t hold his gaze. It was so honest. Like he wasn’t disappointed in Tim. “It was my fault and it was stupid. It won’t happen again.” He looked at Kon again, willing him to understand. “But Bruce might not see it that way.” Not a total lie.

“He’d understand-”

“No. He wouldn’t.” Tim said with an air of finality. If Bruce heard about this he’d know Tim failed him and more than that, he’d know something was wrong. Tim had given himself a week, like he always gave himself a week for these vacations. Even though they usually only took two days or so.

Bruce thought he was in Egypt right now.

“I shouldn’t have been out there,” Tim whispered. “It was stupid and impulsive.”

Kon scoffed. “Damn right you shouldn’t have been.” Tim looked back at Kon, blinking slowly in surprise. Kon sighed heavily. “Tim, those bruises are new, but not _that_ new. They look several hours old. You didn’t get them in a mugging, you would have had them before and I know you haven’t been on any missions so I doubt you got them as Robin. Not to mention how thin you are combined with how you just wolfed down that soup means you were probably starving. You would have been shaking, maybe even swaying on your feet. I’m surprised you had the energy to stand let alone go out.”

Tim’s jaw dropped. Well, not actually. His mouth fell open maybe a centimeter but… well that was just a bout a shout of surprise for him.

Kon’s intelligence was underestimated on every single report. Even Batman’s personal files undersold Kon in that respect. It had taken Tim a few missions to figure that out, but he had figured it out.

Kon’s intelligence was still underestimated on every report. Tim had never corrected them. He wasn’t sure why. Maybe he thought Kon was safer that way. Maybe he just liked having that piece of Kon to himself.

So Tim had known Kon was smart and he’d known Kon figuring everything out was a risk when he’d called him. But he hadn’t had another option. Kon might have noticed all that, but he didn’t have the information to truly put it all together.

And honestly Tim hadn’t expected Kon to care enough to try. 

Despite all of that, Tim was still caught off guard by Kon’s deadpan observations.

“I...” he started, “Don’t know what to say.”

Kon scoffed, with a gleam of disappointment in his eyes. Hurt even. “You could start with the truth. Or where those bruises actually came from or why you haven’t eaten or why you clearly haven’t slept either. I’d settle for light grovelling with promises to never do it again, though. And to take better care of yourself.” Kon sighed, tension seeping from his shoulders as they slumped. Tim bit his lip. “But it’s late. And you need sleep.”

He took a step away, shaking his head to clear it. “Good night, Tim. I won’t tell anyone, but we _will_ talk about his later.”

“‘Night Kon.” Tim mumbled as Kon slipped out the window.

Damn.

Tim didn’t deserve Kon. 

He would have thought on that further, but he was already asleep.


	3. Missing a piece of the puzzle

Tim was making him feel… things.

Well… Tim always made him feel things. Usually hot. Or frustration. Or awe. Most often, a mixture of the three.

But thinking about the bruises on Tim’s body that couldn’t be explained away by some Red Robin escapade, made Kon want to hit something. Hard.

Admittedly, seeing Tim injured always had that effect on him, but usually he had the therapeutic outlet of taking out whatever entity had caused Tim pain. Or at least hearing a delightful, if short, story about how Tim took them down. Even with that bit of satisfaction it was always a struggle to not wrap Tim in a bundle of blankets and never let him into a fight again, but Kon hadn’t given in so far. Tim was a badass and incredibly capable. Plus, he probably wouldn’t take kindly to Kon doing that.

Not knowing how Tim got those bruises was bothering him.

When he finally got back to Mount Justice, Kon started for his bedroom, but not five steps towards it he realized he wouldn’t be able to rest. Changing his direction, Kon headed for the training room instead.

Then there was the lack of food and sleep.

Thinking about _that_ made Kon feel… helpless.

He didn’t like feeling helpless.

But what could he do? It wasn’t actually that strange for Tim to skip a night or two of sleep if he was working on something, but… 

_I’m tired, Kon. So so tired._

Tim’s words echoed around in Kon’s head. It was the bloodloss talking. It had to be. Tim had lost a lot of blood and was probably in shock. The words, the tone, they were a fluke. They weren’t _Tim._ They weren’t _real._

He wasn’t really…

He forgot to eat sometimes too. Kon wasn’t sure if anyone else had realized that, but Kon had. Sometimes Tim would sit behind a computer screen for a full 12 hours, not eating or sleeping. And that was just in the Cave where Kon could monitor him. It didn’t even account for what he did at home or in the Batcave.

Kon reached the training room, shaking his head violently to clear it.

However Tim explained the stab wound in his side, at least he wouldn’t be alone. He said his parents would be there soon. But just in case… 

Locking onto Tim’s heartbeat was even easier this time. It was slow and steady. Expanding his hearing slightly, Kon made out Tim’s light snoring and… nothing. No one else was in the house. 

Snapping himself back to the training room Kon started setting up the Kryptonian strength punching bag. It probably didn’t mean anything. It had only been an hour or so, maybe less. It made sense that Tim’s parents kept odd hours considering they ran an international corporation. They’d be home soon.

Kon started throwing punches.

Each time his fist hit the bag seemed to focus him a little more.

He’d get to the bottom of this- if there was anything to get to the bottom of. Which there probably wasn’t.

_She’s-she’s gonna kill me. No, worse; she’s gonna remove my spleen and feed it to me._

Tim had been scared of someone. Terrified. Kon threw his whole body weight into the next punch, knocking the punch bag that had been specifically designed to take his strength off its hook and across the room.

Sighing, he rubbed his face with his hands. It was connected somehow. He was missing something. Some integral piece of the puzzle. Something that connected bruises that couldn’t be explained with shit self care and fear of a mystery woman finding him out.

There had to be something else there, right?

Kon dropped his hands, looking at the punching bag on the other side of the room like it had failed him.

Research. He needed research and more information.

He wondered when Nightwing would be free.

***

Fuck.

_Fuck._

Tim felt like he’d been stabbed… _oh wait._

But that was probably the least of Tim’s problems.

_Kon._

Tim groaned, bringing a hand up to his forehead. He needed painkillers. And coffee. And a plan, but that could wait until he wasn’t seeing two of everything.

With a hiss of pain he rolled over, luckily onto his uninjured side, to grope at his nightstand for the painkillers he’d taken to keeping on hand. It only took a few seconds for his hand to close around the bottle. Falling back onto his bed, he popped a few of the small pills and dry swallowed. 

Waiting for the painkillers to kick in so he could think was torture, but soon enough Tim’s brain started to reboot.

Okay. He’d been in worse situations, right? His life wasn’t in any imminent danger, just his soul. If Kon kept digging… if Kon figured out what Tim had been able to hide from fricken Batman just because of a lucky mugger and _caring_ Tim would-

No.

In.

Out.

Tim’s breathing evened out slowly until he was calm again. He needed to keep his head. He was usually good at figuring people out. Think ten steps ahead, know what drives a person and you can predict their every move. Predict it, then shape it to your advantage.

That was something Janet had taught him.

But Kon was different. For the life of him, Tim couldn’t figure out what the half Kryptonian was thinking. There was something going on with Kon that Tim couldn’t quantify, understand, _or_ control. It was like having an inconsistent variable in an otherwise perfect set of equations.

There was something else too.

Some small part of Tim that spoke softly and usually got ignored. A small part that was wondering if it would be so bad if Kon learned the truth. About everything.

Tim firmly stamped that voice out, sitting up as he did so, funnling the pain from that movement into his own determination. He stumbled toward the bathroom on unsteady legs, very aware of how bad this probably was for him and that he shouldn’t even be able to stand.

Leaning heavily against the sink, he considered his options. On one hand, he had an alien device he’d obtained a few weeks ago that would in theory heal him practically immediately, but in practice had never been used on a human. On the other hand he had Luthor tech he’d stolen and modified months ago that would do the job in a week, but at least that had been tested on humans. Not successfully, but like he said, he’d made a few modifications.

He didn’t need an immediate miracle, Batman wasn’t expecting him for another few days. Luthor tech it was.

Tim sat down heavily on the toilet, pulling off his shirt in a series of very painful, very jerky movements. The stitches had held and the wound still looked good. Thanking his lucky stars individually and by name, (It wasn’t that hard. He didn’t have many.) Tim cleaned the wound again and applied the nanotech infused cream. He also gave himself the injection and popped two pills. Luthor sure was thorough.

While he was at it, he put a similar, but less potent, cream on his bruises.

As he bandaged and wrapped the wounds, it occured to Tim how much easier this would be if a certain half Kryptonian that was built like an ox with sky blue eyes were there to help. 

He dismissed that thought as soon as he had it.

Tim’s stomach growled.

Right. He still had to take care of that.

With a grunt of pain, he stood less than gracefully and headed towards the kitchen. He’d never hated stairs more in his life.

While he went, he thought about what all Kon knew and what he was going to do with that information. The answers turned out to be: not much, and there wasn’t much he _could_ do.

He didn’t have proof of anything and by the time he convinced someone to look, Tim would already be healed.

But Kon could get proof. And somehow Tim knew he was going to try. Kon wasn’t going to leave this alone.

Tim growled in frustration. There was something about Kon that couldn’t be explained. Some inexplicable piece of a painful puzzle that caused Kon to pursue this.

If he could just get Kon to pretend last night had never happened and to stop worrying about it, everything would be fine.

Tim blinked at his hand. A minute ago he’d been at the top of the stairs and now there was a PB&J in his hand with extra jelly just the way he liked it. He shook his head hard; he must have spaced out again.

He shrugged. So what if he couldn’t quite remember making it. Food was food. Taking a large bite, he glanced around the kitchen as he chewed. As he’d anticipated, the coffee pot was already brewing.

Loyalty.

Tim brightened considerably. That had to be it! Kon was looking out for him because he was worried about losing an asset to the team. As worthless of a person as Tim was, he also knew that quantitative data didn’t lie, and he was useful to the team.

So all he had to do was show Kon that last night hadn’t affected his usefulness, and wouldn’t affect their work. That way Kon would be able to forget all about it and leave Tim to his worthless, forgotten life.

Some small part of Tim cringed painfully as if his epiphany physically hurt it.

Tim ignored it.

The best way to prove his usefulness was to be back in the field as soon as possible, and in the meantime, well, there were other ways he could help the team.

Tim finished his sandwich and started back up the stairs. Time to brush up on his Guy-in-The-Chair skills.

***

Alone.

Tim had been alone for five whole days following The Incident as Kon was now calling it.

He knew because he’d checked for heartbeats several times a day everyday since then. One heartbeat had stopped by for a bit while Tim was sleeping but they hadn’t stayed long and they hadn’t woken him.

Tim had said his parents would be home soon. They were not home. Why would Tim lie about that? To get rid of Kon? Kon would have gone if Tim had just asked. He hadn’t needed to lie. Still, Tim was delirious and maybe he hadn’t realized that?

Kon was burying the lead here. What was really alarming was that _Tim had been alone for five days._ Straight. And Kon figured his parents probably hadn’t been home the day before that either because if they’d been home, surely they would have forced Tim to eat.

It got worse though.

Kon had called Tim to check up on him and it had gone something like this:

“Hey Tim, just calling to check up on you. How’s your wound healing?”

Long, uncomfortable pause.

“Great! I’ll be in fighting shape in just a few days. It doesn’t even hurt anymore.”

“Really? Wow! That’s… miraculous. It’s only been like three days.”

Nervous laughter. “Oh you know. Who hasn’t been… lightly stabbed, and returned to work… five days later.”

“If you say so… what did you tell your parents?”

“I told my parents I was sick.”

“And that worked?”

Practically audible shrug. “Yeah. I can change my own bandages and by now I’m fully functional. In fact I should probably get back to the Cave soo-”

“No.”

“What do you mean?”

Sigh. “Tim, you _just_ got _stabbed._ You may be feeling better, but you still need to give it a few more days. Please. For me.”

Gulp. “Yeah, okay. But I will be back by the end of the week.”

“And I suppose that’s non negotiable?”

“Yup.”

From there it more or less devolved into a pseudo mission briefing.

He lied.

Why would he lie?

It all made Kon’s head hurt.


	4. Triumphant return

_RECOGNIZED: B20, Red Robin_

Tim didn’t look up from his tablet as he strolled into the cave, heading straight for the computer.

Naturally, it was Nightwing who spotted him first. “Yo, Red! Haven’t seen you around the Mountain lately. How was your vaca?” Dick, jogged a little to fall into step beside Tim.

“Relaxing. Mother and father are healthy as ever.” 

As always, Dick paid little mind to Tim’s apparent disinterest. He laughed heartily. “So basically you were bored to death without access to your precious case files?”

Tim let his mouth twitch in amusement. “Basically. How were things in Bat central?”

Dick sighed dramatically. “O is the same as usual. She dug her claws into a new case and she’s really going at it, I wouldn’t get in her way if I were you. B is as gruff and driven as ever. He’s even worse when you’re not around because he just does it all on his own and doesn’t accept help. Jay-” Dick sucked in a breath. Talking about Jason was still hard on him. It was hard on all of them. “Red Hood is apparently in some sort of communication with Agent A. They both made it clear we had no place in that and that if we tried to meddle or figure it out, he will put a bullet through us.” He sighed. “Although I suppose that’s an improvement because he didn’t specify where. So I assume he won’t kill us.”

Tim glanced sideways at Dick. “Optimistic of you.”

Grinning, Dick shrugged. “I’m an optimistic guy. Anyway, other than that, Hood is steering clear of all Bats and as far as we can tell, doing vigilante work. His kill count has gone down considerably…”

“But?”

“But the dead bodies are still turning up here and there. Nothing we can for sure link to him, but… it’s enough.” Dick’s shoulders slumped and Tim finally looked at him. _Really_ looked at him. He looked tired, and ten or twenty years too old. Dick was leading Young Justice, still protecting Bludhaven, and handling Bruce all on top of worrying about Jason, who was still legally dead and his identity under wraps. Not to mention he was still mourning Wally and trying to keep Damian from killing everyone.

“We’ll find him when he’s ready. And when we do, we’re gonna get him back. You’re going to have your little brother back,” Tim reassured him. _Nevermind the time he tried to kill me._

Dick plastered a smile on his face. “You’re right. In the meantime, Spoiler and Batgirl are still training in China, but we think they’ll be coming back soon. Ish. Robin’s training is getting better too. He hasn’t _really_ tried to kill anyone in a week.”

Tim looked at Dick flatly.

“Ok, a few throat shots… and he had some trouble with the whole stopping part of our last spar… and he’s challenged three different people to mortal combat… but we finally took his katanas away!” Dick finished excitedly, as if it were some great milestone to take deadly weapons from a ten year old. “His progress is going great! You should come by sometime and see him.”

Tim cringed internally. He’d seen the demon brat last night and his knee still hurt, but at least he could say Damian came out of it worse. He’d acted rather strange after Tim had won the fight too, but Tim hadn’t had the time to figure that out yet.

“I don’t think me being around the gremlin is a good idea. I’m pretty sure I bring out his inner murderer times ten,” Tim said, flopping into the computer chair in the control room.

Dick snorted. “Don’t be ridiculous. He… admires you.”

“Admires,” Tim deadpanned, turning to make direct eye contact with Dick through both of their sunglasses. “D, he thinks I’m his ‘one true enemy’ and he must ‘kill me to properly inherit the title of Robin that is rightfully his’. Last night he told me he was sorry he left the job unfinished but my ‘mortal soul could continue it’s pitiful existance until you and B freed yourselves of whatever stupid connection and misplaced attachment you felt’ towards me.”

“Alright, so family’s a bit of an adjustment for him. He’ll learn,” Dick insisted.

“Right.” Tim said disbelievingly, returning to the computer to finish pulling up his files.

“Oh, don’t mind me, your brother, who hasn’t seen you in over a week. Just go right on ahead and play with your computer.”

Tim didn’t deign to respond to that and after a minute of pouting, Dick got bored and wandered off.

For a few minutes Tim was left alone with the cave computer. He didn’t mind. His laptop was wonderful, but the cave computer was second only to the Batcave’s.

It was a common misconception that the Watchtower had a better computer than Mount Justice, but Tim had changed that almost as soon as he realized he didn’t have access to the Watchtower yet. Well, not completely anyway. Of course Tim could get into the watchtower and all its amenities but he wasn’t exactly welcome.

So Tim had improved the cave’s computer. It held modifications only Tim could make and intel so well hidden, even Oracle wouldn’t be able to drag it back up. But the majority of the time, Tim just used it to look at the regular data and mission files.

“What are you doing here?”

Tim sighed almost imperceptibly. He’d clocked Kon a minute ago. “What does it look like I’m doing? I’m working.”

“Dude! It’s been like a week! There’s no way you’re healed,” Kon insisted, moving closer.

This was something Tim had prepared for. Kon didn’t believe he was healed yet, Tim could prove him wrong.

Signing out of the computer with no more than a few keystrokes, Tim stood up and turned to face Kon. “Actually I am. And I can prove it.”

Kon frowned in confusion as Tim took a step closer and lifted his shirt to show Kon a shiny pink scar amongst a bed of older scars, situated on his side. “As you can see, I’m good as new.”

Taking a step closer, Kon brought a hand up to tentatively brush the skin. “How is that even possible? No one heals _this_ fast. At least, humans don’t anyway”

Tim swallowed, suddenly very aware of how close they were. “You could say I had a little help.” His voice was hoarse.

Kon must have suddenly become very aware of their closeness as well because he jerked his hand away. “Right.”

Tim dropped his shirt. “If you still don’t believe me, I can prove it.”

His eyes narrowed. “How do you plan on doing that.”

Tim smiled his Red Robin grin. “Let’s spar.”

***

Kon couldn’t believe he was doing this.

Tim was stabbed _last week_ and now Kon was standing in the sparring ring and waiting to fight him. It went against all sensibility.

But by whatever magic or science, Tim was healed. Sort of. At least the wound had closed and scarred. Kon pictured Tim’s side again, realizing he’d memorized it. The scar had looked months old. There were other parts of that image that requested his attention, such as Tim’s v-line and the hint of abs just barely covered by his shirt. Or the spiderweb of other, older scars that stretched out on his skin.

He refused to think about that. Not now. Not when Bart had seen them walking to the ring and had gathered, well, almost everyone, to come watch.

However this went, it was going to be public. And if Tim’s slight smirk and steady gaze were anything to go off of, he was just fine with that. For the first time Kon considered that Tim might not be lying and he was about to get his butt kicked.

Kon assessed Tim again. He was wearing pants that were flexible enough to be tights, (Kon would know, he spent a _lot_ of time watching Red Robin stretch in those pants.) but looked like dark jeans and his usual loose v-neck. At some point he’d slipped away and traded in his sunglasses for a domino so he wouldn’t flash his baby blues during a back flip to the rapidly growing crowd. 

He wasn’t even wearing his utility belt.

Kon considered being offended but was interrupted before he could summon the emotion by Nightwing strolling into the room.

As the ex-Robin took a spot at the edge of the ring with an unimpeded view, Kon thought he saw Tim’s expression flicker, but it happened so fast it was probably Kon’s imagination.

“Supey piss you off already, Red? That didn’t take long.” Nightwing drawled, crossing his arms and clearly settling in to watch the fight.

Tim shrugged, smiling faintly. “Just a little disagreement. Nothing you all need to worry about.”

Bart oohed like a middle schooler at a rap battle and dashed away only to return a second later with popcorn. “There was a _disagreement,_ ” he said to Jaime, putting far to much emphasis into ‘disagreement’ for Kon’s comfort.

“Are you two going to fight, or are we here to watch a staring contest?” Rocket yelled.

Grinning that Red Robin smile, Tim said, “That’s up to Superboy.”

Because Cadmus programed Kon with manners, he accepted invitations when they were offered to him, so he launched forward dutifully, swinging at Tim with hopes to end the fight fast.

His fist connected with-

-air.

Tim had jumped practically straight up and front-hand-springed over Kon, using his shoulders as a vaulting table. The momentum from his own forward swipe and Tim’s release sent Kon flying forward. He caught himself- barely- and whirled around to face Tim again.

The bastard was just standing there, smiling at him like he was an especially cute toddler.

There were a few appreciative whistles and someone definitely laughed. 

This time, Kon approached more slowly. He dropped into an actual fighting stance and started punching. Tim didn’t do any fancy gymnastics this time. Instead he went for a more dance-like technique and swerved, ducking and dodging to just barely avoid Kon’s fists. He was giving Kon ground too. Kon wasn’t sure if he should be happy about that or frustrated that he wasn’t landing a single punch.

Suddenly Tim smirked and took several steps back at once. “Mind if I borrow these?” he said and for a moment, Kon was completely baffled, but then Nightwing’s escrima sticks were in Tim’s hands and Kon realized Tim had backed himself right into his older brother. “Thanks.”

Dick threw his head back and laughed.

The now armed Red Robin advanced on Kon, re engaging with vigor.

“He can’t do that!” Bart exclaimed. “Can he?”

Shrugging, Dick replied, “He’s using his surroundings.” He smiled devilishly. “Besides, are you going to take them from him?”

Bart looked back to the fight where Tim was whirling with the escrima sticks, blocking and deflecting every one of Kon’s blows and practically dancing around him, slipping past Kon’s guard to hit him hard every couple punches.

Bart paled. “Nope. He can definitely do that. It’s totally crash.”

Kon had been trying to hold back because, you know, stab wound, but Tim had gained the upper hand and Kon suddenly realized he wasn’t holding back anymore.

And he was getting his ass handed to him.

He felt a rush of pride for his friend that somehow only grew when Tim hit him in the gut with an escrima stick- _hard._

Kon doubled over and before he could right himself, Tim was behind him, kicking the backs of his knees and landing him on the ground hard.

Suddenly he was on his back and Tim was sitting on him, pinning his arms to his sides with his legs and leaning over Kon to place the escrima sticks across Kon’s neck. 

Bullet proof skin was wonderful, but they all knew if Tim put his weight on the sticks and pushed _down,_ he would crush Kon’s windpipe. Invulnerable skin was useless when you couldn’t breathe.

“Satisfied?” he asked and Kon was suddenly struck by how close they were. 

He spared a single thought of thanks that Tim was sitting on his stomach and not lower before gritting out, “For now.”

Tim must have accepted that answer because he stood up and offered Kon a hand. As he helped Kon up, the assembled crowd broke into cheers.

Tim shifted, smiling humbly and lapping up the praise with only mild confusion as to why he was getting it.

The crowd dispersed, leaving the combatants alone with just Nightwing left.

Once everyone was out of earshot, Dick clapped Tim on the back. “Nice job Timmers.” He turned his gaze on Kon, smirking. “You’re losing your touch.”

Kon raised an eyebrow.

Dick shrugged. “Your very brash touch.”

Dick’s laughter drowned out Kon’s unimpressed expression and Tim’s slight frown. 

“Anyway,” Dick continued when he’d settled down, “I stayed back because you two have a mission.”

“Good thing we settled that disagreement,” Tim said smoothly.

Kon glared at him. “Still not happy about it.”

“You’ll get over it.”


	5. Mission Briefing

“The international black market weapons trade has been growing steadily larger along the East coast. For months now, but recently it’s hit an all time high. Weapons are pouring in from foreign countries and the regular authorities have yet to make any real progress stopping it.” Behind Dick, the screen followed along with helpful maps of the East coast marked with known and suspected weapons deals.

Kon crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes at the screen like just staring hard enough would explode weapons hundreds of miles away.

Dick’s voice took on an almost painful tightness as he continued to brief the three heroes. “Despite Batman’s efforts, Gotham was the main consumer of this trade for decades.” In a rare moment of unprofessionalism, Nightwing shut his eyes and took a deep, shuddering breath before an image of the Red Hood appeared behind him. “Until recently.”

The picture was from Nightwing’s suit cam if the outstretched hand visible at the bottom was anything to go off. Red hood was standing on a roof ledge looking back at the camera- at _Dick_ , and pointing a gun right at him. His brown leather jacket flared around him in some long since passed wind and any emotion his face might have given away was covered by his signature red helmet, illuminated by the reflected lights of the city far bellow.

Kon wasn’t totally sure why Red hood shook Dick on such an emotional level, but ever since the wannabe vigilante had surfaced in Gotham, all the Bats had been touchy about the subject. Batman hadn’t left Gotham in weeks and even when Nightwing was at Mount Justice, he wasn’t really _there._ Tim had seemed the least affected, but even he avoided the subject completely.

“When the Red Hood killed Black Mask and took control of Gotham’s crime world, the rules changed.” Kon chose to ignore the way Dick’s heart lurched when he said ‘killed’. “Weapons entering Gotham all but stopped. With the main consumer out of the question, the weapons trade slowed down and actually started to get better, but when the Red Hood… bowed out, the power vacuum he left in Gotham basically filled up with guns. Not to mention while Gotham was out of the picture, the trade expanded to get a new foot hold in some of the cities it wasn’t already strong in.”

Tim absorbed the information stoically, somehow managing to look every bit the serious vigilante even in civies.

“We intercepted a transmission from the manufacturer to the distributor that set up a deal for tonight. Your mission is to get in, gather all the information you can and confiscate the weapons. It won’t be easy, but you’ll have the element of surprise.”

Bart spoke first, “When do we leave?”

“One hour. I suggest you go suit up. You’ll be taking the zeta tube to the nearest city and biking there,” Nightwing ordered.

“Sphere?” Kon asked.

Nightwing shook his head regretfully. “Too ostentatious. We’ve got some old Harleys in the garage you can take.”

Whistling, Kon grinned. Harleys were no Sphere, but they were nice.

Bart laughed uncomfortably. “Bikes are crash and all, but no can do. I’ll run.”

Nightwing nodded. “Fair enough. Dismissed.”

As all three heroes turned to leave, Dick grabbed Tim’s wrist, completely missing how the younger boy momentarily stiffened. “Can you hang back a sec?”

Bart shrugged and kept walking, but Kon paused, looking at Tim for confirmation and only leaving once he’d received a small nod.

Noting the reaction, Nightwing spoke quietly to his younger brother. “Little Wing is getting really antsy about staying at home. He wants to,” Dick cleared his throat. “‘Pass judgement on the imbecilic monkeys’ that take up so much of my time. We’ve been trying to distract him, but once he decides he wants something, it’s pretty hard to dissuade him. Sooner or later, he’s going to find a way to get here.”

Tim snorted. “The Hellspawn has bitten off more than he can chew this time. Tigress will probably wipe the floor with his disrespectful ass and I’ll video it. Oh God, that’s going to be blackmail for the next ten years.”

Frowning, Dick reprimanded him. “You shouldn’t talk about your brother like that.”

Carefully exchanging the amusement on his face for something more apologetic, Tim stamped down the flare of anger that curled in his chest. _You have never once defended me to him._ “Of course.” Nightwing nodded as if accepting an apology and Tim went on, “Thanks for the heads up, but if that’s all, I need to get ready for my mission.”

Nightwing nodded distractedly, already turning away from Tim to look back towards the screen.

Tim managed to hold it together until he made it to the locker room. He did a quick check to make sure he was alone before finally sinking to the floor and letting himself groan in pain.

He was fine. This was fine. It was nothing really, the wound was closed and he wasn’t actually doing it more harm. But it still hurt like hell.

Pain meds. He needed something to get him through this mission. Then he could get some sleep. Or at least, some time in bed on his laptop. Or maybe sitting at the Cave’s computer. Whatever.

As Tim pulled himself onto the bench and popped open his locker, he counted back hours to make sure this was safe. It’d been long enough, so Tim riffled through it until he found his meds. Once he was done with that, he pulled out his suit and tried to stand up to change-

-only to immediately sit back down.

Maybe he could give the pain meds a few minutes to kick in.


	6. Replacement

Kon loved motorcycles. The wind in his face felt like flying, but there was something grounding about the hum of the engine beneath him that was comforting in a different way.

It did help that Tim looked 5 different shades of badass on his own motorcycle, but that obviously had no affect on Kon’s love of motorcycles. He glanced at Tim’s ass, in front and to the left of him. Yup. No affect at all.

It only took 30 minutes to get to the coordinates that Nightwing had given them.

“We’re almost there.” Tim’s voice came across the coms. “We can stash the bikes in-”

Heat rolled over Kon’s skin, accompanied by a blast that knocked both their motorcycles off course. Curses filled the coms and Kon wasn’t totally sure from whose mouth they spilled. The bikes swerved wildly before their respective riders got them under control. Kon saw Bart sitting on the side of the road and rubbing his head like he’d been knocked down as they drove past.

“What the hell was that?” Kon asked.

“Trouble,” Tim replied darkly. He sped up, pushing both of them to go faster towards the smoke visible over what Kon assumed must be their destination.

When they finally got to the docks, one of the warehouses was up in flames.

Kon took in the sight with wary eyes. “What are the chances this was just a weapon malfunction.”

Tim snorted. “About the same as the chances of a proper Star Wars movie that doesn’t include the line, ‘I have a bad feeling about this’.”

“Does that make this a bad time to mention I have a bad feeling about this?”

Tim laughed high and clear. Kon would gladly go deaf if that was the consequence of hearing that laugh every day. “Come on. Let’s go find out what variety of shit show we just drove into.”

One building was up in flames, but that left one more that was surrounded by a suspiciously low number of goons, all pointing guns at the entrances which appeared to all be sealed. They drove towards that one.

Did he forget to mention the gunshots? Because there were definitely gunshots coming from that direction too.

“Kid Flash, you hang back and take care of the bystanders outside the warehouse, I want them knocked out, tied up, and out of the way.” Tim rattled off orders. “Superboy, you’re with me. We need to get in there, figure out what happened and diffuse the situation.”

“Wait, how are you going to get into the warehouse?” Bart asked.

Kon couldn’t see Tim’s face, but he was pretty certain the Bat was smirking. “Remember that movie with the nazis and that one superpowered golden retriever with a frisbee?”

Kon blinked. “What kind of weird movie is that?”

Tim sighed. “Forgot who I was talking to. Just watch and learn.”

Still very much confused, Kon pulled back so he wouldn’t get in Tim’s way. Except, Tim just kept going. Speeding up. Towards the door. That was still closed.

“What are you doing?!” Kon yelled.

Then barely twenty yards from the door, Tim dove off his bike, tucking and rolling to protect himself from the fall. His bike kept going until it hit the door, tearing through the metal and leaving an opening easily big enough for Kon to ride through on his bike.

Pulling up beside Tim, Kon offered him a hand, pulling the boy onto the back of his own bike. “That was...”

“Awesome? I know. I’ve been wanting to try that ever since I saw that movie.” Tim replied, settling behind Kon at record speed.

“The word that actually comes to mind is reckless. But yeah. Since it worked, we’ll go with awesome.”

Kon drove through the hole Tim had created, bringing them right in the middle of a warehouse full of crates that probably held the illegal guns they were there to confiscate. More importantly, behind almost every crate was someone with a gun. And most importantly, right in front of them someone was standing up from behind their cover.

Tim and Kon both got off the bike, leaving it by the door to stand in the suddenly very silent cavernous space.

The figure who had been rising from behind his crate finally stepped into the light to reveal a shiny red helmet.

“ _Replacement,_ ” he snarled the word like it was the worst insult he could throw and by the way Tim’s eyes widened in horror, maybe it was.

Tim cursed softly. “Hood. Didn’t expect to see you here. Is there anyway to do this without it ending in a fight?”

Instead of answering, Red Hood just snarled, throwing himself forward toward the prone Bat.

Before Kon could even move to help his friend, guns started going off again and he realized that if he didn’t take care of the shooters, both Tim and Red Hood would die. Kon hesitated with indecision until Tim cried out, “Go!”. It wasn’t quite a full order, but it spurred Kon into action.

As Jason came down on Tim, he wondered if this was it.

Just for a second, an image flickered across his mind of Bruce standing at his funeral and grieving. Grieving not for Tim, but for Jason whose soul would be truly lost if he managed to kill Tim here and now.

Jason finally reached him, swinging a fist for Tim’s head. As he ducked, he noticed that Jason had tried to hit him instead of going for his guns.

He wasn’t really trying to kill Tim.

That was the moment Tim got his resolve back. One way or another he would get out of this and he would drag Jason out with him.

“Hi,” he started as he kept ducking Jason’s blows. “It’s good to see you. Bruce and Dick are going crazy with worry.”

That seemed to only make things worse. Jason redoubled his efforts to bash Tim’s face in.

Ok, so maybe the family wasn’t the best thing to mention right now.

Tim thought over the countless files he’d read about Jason. Thought back to the time he’d spent stalking the boy when he’d been Robin.

As he thought, he studied his opponent. Jason’s fighting momentarily lacked all grace, but even in his rage, he fought well. Each of his punches had the power to knock Tim out and he didn’t leave many openings for Tim to retaliate.

Tim looked up at the helmet, right where Jason’s eyes were.

He’d never gotten close enough to see Jason’s eyes. He realized he only knew what color they were from pictures and reports. As he looked he noticed the eye holes of Jason’s helmet were colored.

No… not colored. The were lit from inside by some sort of green light…

The Lazarus pit.

Jason’s body had been flooded with adrenaline from his fight. Seeing Tim had pushed him over the ledge and set off the famed Lazarus rage. Tim was one of Jason’s triggers and he’d walked in at the absolute _worst_ time.

Jason’s fist whistled past so close to Tim’s face that he could almost feel his leather gloves.

He needed to talk Jason down without bringing up any of his triggers.

The files. He had read every single file about Jason multiple times. 

As a kid Jason had always been temperamental and with a bit of a problem concerning Batman’s rules. But nothing he did as Robin could really help Tim in this situation. He’d been a straight A student. He’d loved-

That was it.

“I don’t think Mr. Darcy’s all that great.”

Jason’s fist froze inches from Tim’s face. “What?” Even an octave higher because of his confusion, his voice was low and rough.

“He didn’t deserve Elizabeth.”

Jason pulled his fist back to look at Tim in betrayed shock. “Excuse you. Mr. Darcy was a gentleman and he loved Elizabeth. He was the man that finally won her heart, regardless of how they met. He backed off when she said no and frankly, was the only man in that book with an ounce of romance or respect for women. And he knew he wasn’t perfect! They both knew it! And he willingly admitted it!”

Tim smiled. That had worked even better than expected. The green was all but gone from Jason’s eyes. Or at least, it wasn’t shining through his helmet’s eye holes anymore. “Better?”

Jason faltered. “You fucking did that on purpose. Have you even read that book?”

“Um,” Tim wondered if he could get away with not answering that. Probably not. “No. But it worked didn’t it?”

“And how did you know that wouldn’t set me off even more?” Jason asked, crossing his arms.

Tim shrugged. “You always loved reading and it’s pretty far from your triggers so I thought it was a safe bet.”

“Bet,” Jason said flatly. “I could have killed you.”

“Nah. You didn’t even pull your guns. It was all perfectly safe.”

Jason laughed, shaking his head. “You’re one serious piece of work, you know that replacement? And that’s coming from me.”

Tim frowned. “I’m not even Robin anymore. The Demon Brat is. Shouldn’t he get that nickname?”

“You’re the original.”

“I could really use some help over here!” Kon yelled.

Tim glanced over to where Kon was trying to take on all the goons at once. “Right. We should probably help him with that.”

***

Several minutes of kind-of-team-work-but-mostly-just-mutual-badassery later, Jason found himself standing half a mile away from the warehouses, finally pulling off his helmet and tucking it under his arm as he pulled out a cigarette.

“Those things will kill you,” Tim said, walking up to stand next to his sort of brother.

Jason tucked away his lighter and took a long pull from the lit cigarette. “I’ve heard you’ve got quite the epic romance going on with black coffee, so you should talk.”

“Alfie?”

“Yeah.” Jason kept looking straight ahead. Even with his helmet off, his eyes were still covered with a domino.

”Why does this feel like a crappy rom com?” Tim asked glancing at the man that was virtually a stranger to him. Even if they were brothers.

Jason laughed. “Because the media stigmatizes males having emotional moments if they’re not romantic.” He took a drag from his cigarette. “Well, they don’t like romantic ones between males either.”

Tim chukled. “You’re implying that’s what’s about to happen here. An emotional moment.”

”I guess that’s up to you, but so far, I haven’t met a single Bat willing to just walk away from me without trying to start an emotional moment.”

For a moment they stood there in silence, staring at the same ocean and the same sky. For a moment Tim considered walking away. Maybe he could be the Bat that finally proved Jason wrong.

“They really do miss you.” It’s not like he ever really had a choice in the matter anyway. Tim felt it was his obligation to speak on the Bats’ behalf. And yeah, maybe it was stupid, suicidal even, to bring up one of Jason’s triggers like this, but he was calmer now, and he was clearly expecting it.

Jason finally looked at Tim. “So we’re really gonna do this?”

Tim plowed on, ignoring the less than enthusiastic response. “I just thought you should know that I had to force Batman to let me be Robin. He didn’t want there to ever be another kid like you, but I _made_ him take me on as his sidekick because without you, he went a little crazy.”

Jason scoffed. “Still didn’t kill the Joker.”

“No. He didn’t. He couldn’t. Because if Batman kills, Gotham would fall into madness. Batman has to remain an unquestionable standard of good. If he starts killing, the people will lose faith in him and Gotham would truly be lost.” Tim put every ounce of the conviction he’d had when he’d realized this so many years ago into his words, trying to force Jason to understand.

“So it’s better he let that madman live and kill more people? It that really worth the cost of so many lives?” Jason asked. Tim wasn’t sure if he was trying to make an argument or convince himself.

“Yes. Because if Batman kills, he wouldn’t be Batman anymore and more people would be dead because of it.”

Jason was quiet for a long time.

“Do you know why the sight of you makes me so angry? Why it kills me to see that team of yours, running around and saving the world?” He didn’t wait for a response. “Because I thought I’d be the last one. I thought after what happened to me, all those idiots up there in the Watchtower would realize how dangerous it was to send kids into battle. But then I saw you, and I realized he just kept making them. More child soldiers, more kids throwing themselves on the knife because of him- _for_ him. He has that effect on people. He makes you take stupid risks just to impress him. He makes you terrified of letting him down and he doesn’t even know how dangerous that makes him to people. Especially kids. Especially us.”

Tim wanted to protest. He knew this was the part where he came to Bruce’s defense with some sort of bullet proof argument that would… that would what exactly? Justify his own existence? Justify the existence of Robin’s and Kid Flash’s and Superboy’s and countless other child heroes?

Jason was right.

“And one day he’s going to push just a little too far, he’s going to ask for just a little too much, and we’d happily comply. That’s when things go to hell. That’s when awe-struck hot heads like me die.”

Jason took one last drag from his cigarette and put it out, tossing the butt into a disposal tray on top of a nearby trash can.

“You’re not wrong.” Jason turned back to look at Tim, but the boy in question couldn’t bring himself to look away from the horizon. “But anyone can make a kid feel like that. It’s what love is. Throwing yourself into the fire just so someone will be proud when you burn. And it doesn’t change the fact that he loves you, even if he was crappy at showing it. So do Dick and Alfie. You should talk to them.”

“Kid, you’ve never felt real love if that’s how you think it feels. Get back to me when you have a better understanding of it.” He started walking away, but paused, turning to look at Tim over his shoulder. “Until then… I’ll think about it.”

Tim heard the shuffling of sand and the far off revving of an engine that meant Jason was gone, but he kept staring at the ocean. It was so dark, he could hardly separate the blackness of the sky from the dark blue of the water. Or maybe it was the blackness of the water and the dark blue of the sky.

Jason’s words echoed in his head, lodging there and getting stuck. He wanted to scoff and push them away like they were nothing, to shove them down into the place that could only hurt him, but they wouldn’t leave. Instead they burned themselves into Tim’s heart and made him want to puke.

They hurt him in the way only a truth too long avoided can.

_Kid, you’ve never felt real love if that’s how you think it feels._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow that got really heavy there at the end. Sorry not sorry. Anyway, some of the stuff Jason said about Bruce was loosely based around some Doctor Who quotes, so… thanks Rory! And Danny, but mostly Rory.


	7. Two Sentences

“He’s been gone a long time.”

“I know.”

“Red hood left, like, forever ago.”

“I know.”

“He’s just… standing there.”

“I know.”

“What do you think they were talking about?”

Kon sighed. “I don’t know.”

Before he’d left to follow the Red Hood, Tim had specifically asked him not to listen in. He’d accompanied the request with a death glare that made Kon wonder if Tim was used to people denying his requests of privacy.

He looked over in the direction Tim had walked off in for the millionth time, but still only saw a single faint silhouette, cape flapping in the wind, staring off towards the horizon.

At least it was better than when he’d been able to see _two_ figures. 

How could Tim stand right next to Red Hood like that? How could Tim, ever so cautious Tim, stand so close to a man that had attacked him less than an hour ago, with his guard down, talking like old friends? 

No. ‘Attack’ didn’t cover it. Red Hood had practically been foaming at the mouth trying to _kill_ Tim. Then Tim had said… something, and he’d just stopped. And the next thing he knew, Kon was fighting side by side with the infamous Red Hood. A man with a kill count higher than the rest of the Justice League combined.

And now… Tim had walked off without a single concern for his safety. He’d told them to stay there- like _they_ were the intruders- and he’d gone to talk to Red freaking Hood like he was more important.

The feeling in his gut writhed and twisted and he couldn’t quite nail down if it was protectiveness or… something else. _Something,_ he reminded himself, _he was not entitled to._

“Did you secure all the weapons and handle the distributors?”

Bart yelped. “How does he _do_ that?”

Ignoring both Bart and the abruptness of Tim’s arrival, Kon answered, “We called the police, the clean ones, and yes. We interrogated a few of them, but they didn’t have much to say. We got cell phones and other electronics that might have info off a few of them.” Bart held up a bag full of devices in emphasis. “We’re ready to go.”

Tim nodded vaguely, still a million miles away. “Ok. Nightwing will want a report immediately.”

Kon chose to ignore Tim’s clear dread at the prospect of speaking with his brother. “Since _someone_ crashed their bike.” Kon cast Tim a withering glare that the Bat didn’t even notice. “You’ll have to ride with me.”

“Speaking of...” Judging from Bart’s tone of voice, he was gearing up to talk for a _long_ time. “That move was so crash! Like, you just dove off the motorcycle and it ran right into the door and that was so cool!! What movie did you say you saw that in? I _have_ to see it!”

Kon readied himself to step in and get Bart to stop talking, but Tim beat him to it. “I think Jaime mentioned really liking it. You should ask him to watch it with you.”

Bart froze, missing a beat, then went redder than the highlights of his costume. “I, uh, yeah. I’ll do that.” He opened and closed his mouth several times without saying anything until finally, “If you guys are all good, I’m just gonna head back.” Without waiting for a response, Bart disappeared in a slight spray of sand.

“How did you do that?” Kon asked, leading the way towards the warehouse where he’d stashed his bike.

Tim hummed interrogatively.

“You used like two sentences and he just, stopped.”

Tim shrugged. “It was pretty easy. Like you said, two sentences.”

“Sure, but how did you know the _right_ two sentences.”

Tim finally looked at Kon. He wasn’t sure when exactly, but they’d stopped walking. The light from the warehouse came from the side, leaving half of Tim’s face in shadow. He was looking at Kon carefully. Sizing him up. Almost like he was trying to decide something.

“Motivation,” Tim said at last. “You just have to know what a person wants, what drives them. From there it’s pretty easy. You can do a lot with two sentences.” He turned on his heel and kept walking towards the bike.

What a person wants… Wait- _Jaime?_ Bart wanted-

Kon tucked that train of thought away for later examination.

Where had he learned a thing like that?

“Do you want me to drive?” Tim asked sarcastically, raising an eyebrow at Kon who was still standing there like an idiot.

Kon scoffed. “In your dreams.” He walked over to the bike, swinging his leg over the back and kick starting it. Once the engine was purring, he looked over at Tim who raised an unimpressed eyebrow before getting on behind him, wrapping his arms around Kon.

Oh. Right. Kon had forgotten about that part. He could feel Tim’s fingers on his waist through his shirt that suddenly felt thinner.

Kon swallowed and opened the throttle, accelerating out of the warehouse.

Tim made a small noise and rocked backward, then forward to completely wrap his arms around Kon’s waist, hugging him from behind.

“A little warning next time please?” he muttered.

Kon laughed, just speeding up more. If that’s because he was nervous, no one would ever know.

The drove in silence for a while, Tim quietly humming a song Kon didn’t know the words to. Kon trying not to think about the boy pressed up against him.

“What could you do to me in two sentences?”

“What?” Tim asked.

Kon was kind of agreeing with the sentiment. The question had spilled from him like he’d been waiting to say it, but he’d never really decided to.

His grip on the handlebars tightened. “You said you can do a lot with two sentences. I was just curious what you could do to me.” He wasn’t sure why his voice came out so low or what exactly the many layers under that question were, so he just waited for a response, assuming he got one.

He could feel Tim’s heart beat speed up against his back and it was a completely different experience than listening to it, but it was also the exact same.

“Honestly? I don’t know.” Tim took a deep breath. “You are constantly finding ways to surprise me. No one else does that.”

“No one?”

Tim laughed. “Not even Batman.”

And didn’t that just make Kon’s heart flutter.

***

“Out.”

“What?”

Nightwing gritted his teeth, crossing his arms. “I said, _out._ Red Robin will finish the mission report alone.”

Kon fumed silently, looking at Bart for support, but the speedster was already backing away. “Don’t look at me! I’ll be totally _not_ stealing chips from Jaime’s locker.” And just like on the beach, he was gone.

Giving up on support from that angle, Kon turned back to the bats. “What the hell Dick? I’ve been on this team for _years,_ and now you’re just telling me to beat it?”

If he was being honest, Kon had no idea why this suddenly mattered to him.

Tim was kind of in agreement on this one. Kon was technically his senior when it came to the team. Even if they were biologically the same age and chronologically Tim was older.

Emotions had no place in missions like this and Dick had no right to kick Kon out of the debriefing, but at the same time…

This was Jason. Dick’s little brother in more ways than Tim ever would be. Maybe Dick had the right to finally be emotional about it. Especially considering the way he’d been working himself lately.

“Look, Kon, Red Hood is Gotham’s issue and this is family business. You don’t need to be here.” Dick said like that wasn’t literally the worst way to go about it. “I’ll listen to your version after I hear what happened from Tim.”

Kon’s temper flared. “Just because Wally died doesn’t mean you get to pretend you’re above it all and go back to keeping secrets, I thought you were better than that. I thought you trusted me.” Kon stormed out of the room, which Tim wanted to see as overdramatic, but honestly kind of fit the mood.

“Kon, wait!” the words tore from Tim’s throat and he started after the half kryptonian, but Kon was already gone and Dick was frozen where he stood.

_You can do a lot with two sentences._

Kon had hit Dick’s two sentences exactly.

It was impressive and surprising, but Tim wished it had been on someone other than Dick. Preferably someone Tim didn’t like.

But, you can’t choose someone else’s burn victim, so…

“He’s just upset. He doesn’t know about Jason. He wouldn’t have said that if he’d known.” Tim wasn’t totally sure about using Jason as a defense here, but he figured it was the only string he could pull that was powerful enough to have any effect.

Dick sat down in the computer chair heavily, burying his face in his hands. “But he’s not wrong.”

Tim scrambled to put together a response to that, but before he could, Dick sniffed loudly and ran his fingers through his hair. Tim knew that expression. He made that expression- or at least his version of it- on a regular basis. It was the, _Sorry mental breakdown, I’m gonna have to reschedule. How’s never?_ Usually inevitably followed by an even worse one in the dark where nobody could see.

It hurt more than he would have expected to see it on Dick’s face.

“It hurts, because that’s _exactly_ what Jason would have said to me.” Dick pushed himself back onto his feet, officially banishing his emotions. “I’ll deal with that later, tell me about the mission.”

Tim shifted uncertainly. He knew he should talk to Dick about this or something, but honestly? He couldn’t handle his own breakdowns. How was he supposed to help Dick, Boy Wonder, who was always perfect and put together, handle his.

Dick had always been… over the top. He’d never shied away from crying at sad movies and he celebrated the smallest things like a toddler at Christmas. But truly emotional moments? Like the kind that were based on years of build up and hundreds of emotions overwhelming you all at once? The kind you couldn’t control that were ugly to watch and painful to feel? Tim had only seen him like that once.

It wasn’t when Wally died. It wasn’t even at the funeral. Dick made it all the way through his speech without crying. It wasn’t when they lowered the empty casket into the ground. And it wasn’t when he’d stayed to comfort a crying Barry after everyone but Iris had left.

It was the first time Bart had put on the Kid Flash costume.

Dick had choked on air when he saw it, but he’d smiled and congratulated Bart anyway. An hour later Tim had found him at Wally’s memorial, sobbing and whispering to the monument.

_I can’t do this without you. I thought I could stay strong for the team, but I can’t. I n-need you. Come back to me Walls, please. I loved you and I trusted you and now you’re g-gone._

Tim had been frozen to the ground, unable to move. Even after so long looking back on that moment, he still wasn’t sure what he would have done if he’d been able to move. Would he have disappeared, or would he have comforted his brother?

“Tim, I’m ok. I just want to know what happened on the mission.”

He’d been quiet far too long, but he still didn’t say anything.

“ _Really,_ ” Dick pressed.

So once again, Tim disappeared when his brother might have needed him but definitely didn’t want him.

“Right, well when we got there Red Hood had already blown up one of the buildings and had most of the distributors locked up in the second warehouse while the rest surrounded it. I had Bart,” Tim very purposefully didn’t say Kid Flash, “stay outside to clean up there and took Kon into the warehouse with me where we found Red Hood in a shootout with the rest of the hostiles. We jumped in to help and took those that were left out without any casualties.”

Dick waited for Tim to go on and when he didn’t, he prompted, “And?”

Tim let out a long breath. “And I talked to him afterwards. He’s still smoking.”

“Did you just hit on your brother?”

Tim snorted. “ _Cigarettes._ He’s still smoking _cigarettes._ ” Dick laughed, enjoying the eye of the storm. Tim really wished they could leave it at that.

But they couldn’t. “He’s still… not mad at you guys exactly. But he’s still got all this pent up rage. And honestly, I think he’s entitled to it.” Dick tried to interrupt, but Tim stopped him with a look. “When he’s ready, he’ll reach out to you guys, but for now, you need to give him the space to work out his issues and be ready to grovel when he does come back. Bruce more than you, but still.”

Dick took a moment to process that. “‘You guys’,” he echoed. “Not ‘us’.”

Shit. Had Tim said that? He reviewed his words. Yes. Yes he had.

“I don’t think Jason ever hated me. He hated the idea of me. When he’s not high off Lazarus rage, I don’t think he minds me that much,” Tim confessed.

Dick blinked at him. “I can’t tell if I’m jealous or happy.”

“Can I choose?”

“No.”

“That’s fair.”

Dick didn’t let the silence drag on for long. “Thank you. For the mission report, and… for everything else.” Tim only nodded in reply. “I should probably apologize to Kon.”

Tim couldn’t help himself from smirking. _You think?_

“But I don’t know how.” Dick bit his lip. “Should I… _can_ I tell him about Jason?”

“That’s not my call.”

Dick looked Tim in the eye. “Maybe, but you’re his best friend and he’s yours- don’t even try to deny it. ” The last part came out in response to Tim’s slightly raised eyebrows. “So, what do you think? How far do you trust him?”

Tim opened his mouth to respond with the first lie that came to mind, but slowly closed it. He thought about sky blue eyes with a protective glint. He thought about warning growls at enemies and a body jumping in front of his own to block a blast. He thought about a friend offering him a hand to pull him up on a motorcycle.

“I trust Kon with my life.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh look at that. My _I trust you_ means more than _I love you_ among Bats headcanon resurfaced. (If you’ve read my Birdflash fic you are probably _very_ familiar with it.)
> 
> Speaking of Birdflash, I apologize to anyone who read aforementioned fic or just ships them in general, because even in my crazy, what-is-a-timeline, ages have been wildly adjusted, if you apply any logic to the timeframe everything falls apart, semi-Young Justice universe fics, Wally died and it screwed Dick the hell up. Sorry about that.
> 
> Finally (this is the last thing I promise) if you read my BirdFlash fic, Dick may act really different in this and I’d like to remind you an indeterminable amount of time has passed, he went through his rough patch with Bruce, he gained five siblings and lost one only to have him back completely different, and the love of his life died, so that weighs on a guy.


	8. Conversations long avoided

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was going to wait to release this, but I got really excited when I saw the season 3 trailer.

“You’ve been avoiding me.”

Tim checked to make sure he hadn’t heard Kon wrong. “What?”

“You haven’t been returning my texts or calls and I haven’t seen you around the cave since our last mission even though I _know_ you’ve checked in at least once a day.” Kon smashed two of the robots’ heads together, crushing them both.

“We are literally fighting for our lives and you’re mad because I haven’t been _texting_ you?!” With a quick gesture from Tim, Kon laced his fingers together, using them to launch Red Robin into the air, where he landed on one of the airborne robots, steering it into a flock of others, before jumping to the ground.

Kon watched the maneuver out of the corner of his eye while he fought, waiting until Tim touched down again to respond, “...yes.”

“And for the record, I have not been avoiding you. We just haven’t been in the same place at the same time,” Tim said, “and my phone died.”

Kon snorted. “Here I thought you were a _good_ liar. You’re the one who taught me never to believe in coincidences and the last time your phone died, you nearly killed Jaime trying to get his charger.”

“I did not! I asked politely. He was the one that was slow. And it was dead for nearly fifteen minutes! Do you know what can happen in fifteen minutes?”

“You can completely abandon your obvious lie, apparently.”

Tim didn’t respond right away. “Among other things… yes.”

“Could you two stop talking and maybe actually help?” Cassie yelled as she flew by.

Tim grumbled something about how that was offensive and he could totally multitask, but dropped the conversation nonetheless.

They went back to bashing robots with more zeal than was strictly necessary.

Kon had gone through many awkward moments in his life. After all, his dads were Superman and Lex Luthor, he had basically been screwed from conception. That is, Lex conceiving the idea to clone Superman using his own DNA. Ew. Don’t even go there.

The point was: few moments had been more awkward than Dick trying to apologize to him after he’d stormed out of the briefing room.

Or at least Kon had thought so, until Dick dropped the bombshell that was Jason.

When he’d recovered from his shock, he’d asked Dick to start at the beginning, so Dick had. He’d told Kon about how the Red Hood had come to town and taken over Gotham’s underworld just to manipulate Black Mask into breaking the Joker out of Arkham. He’d told Kon how Red Hood had killed Black Mask and confronted the Joker only for Batman to step in and stop him. He told him how Jason had revealed himself and how they’d all discovered the painful truth. How Jason Todd, the second Robin, had been resurrected using a Lazarus pit and now walked the world freely as some kind of anti-hero.

And the first thing Kon had wanted to do was find Tim and talk to him. What did that say about him?

But he’d stayed, and he’d accepted Dick’s apology and made one of his own. And by the time he’d even begun to wrap his head around it all, Tim had vanished.

He wasn’t sure what exactly was making Tim avoid him, but he had a couple guesses, each more terrifying than the last.

He’d have to add that question to the ever growing list of mysteries surrounding the third Robin.

Kon was almost disappointed when the fight finally ended. He felt like he could go another round or twenty, but what’s a half-Kryptonian to do when he runs out of bots to punch?

 _Talk to Tim_ , he reminded himself. But really, that only made him miss the fight more.

“Good work team. Let’s head home,” he said once the heroes had assembled and concluded there were no serious injuries.

As the team entered the zeta tube, Kon stepped in front of Tim. “Not you.” He would have grabbed his arm, but the image of Tim’s flinch when Dick had done so flashed through his mind just in time for Kon to stop himself.

Tim looked at Kon in resignation, waiting for him to start the conversation.

“We need to talk.”

“I gathered that much,” Tim replied dryly.

Kon’s mouth twitched, but he held firm. “This conversation is going to happen. Do you want it to be here standing in the metal guts of a robot army, or back at the cave where there are twenty other superheroes listening in?”

Tim’s poker face was as impeccable as ever. “If we’re going to do this, can I at least change out of the spandex and take a shower first? Then we can go somewhere private.”

In an instant Kon knew those words would be featured in his next fantasy, but he covered any sign of that as he responded, “Depends. Are you going to vanish on me again?”

Tim’s mouth quirked in something that was definitely amusement and almost a smile. “I could, but I have the feeling if I did you’d chase me back to Drake manor.”

“Damn straight.”

“Then no. I’ll meet you by the zeta tube in thirty minutes.”

Kon whistled lowly, already getting out of Tim’s path to the zeta tube. “That’s one hell of a shower.”

Tim paused beside him, far too close for Kon’s heartbeat to remain steady. “The shower isn't what takes so long.” With an oddly suggestive flap of his cape, Tim stepped into the zeta tube, leaving Kon alone with his ever growing blush.

***

Tim took the time made available to him by the twenty odd booby traps on his suit to fall into a nice debilitating panic.

He spent the time made available to him in the communal showers of the cave to quietly regain his usual dissasociative calm.

_He’s gonna find out. Kon is finally asking questions and this time he’s going to get answers cause I can’t lie to him._

He’d been lying to Batman for years. He could handle Superman’s better clone.

_He’s going to want to know why I avoided him._

But he won’t find out the answer.

_What? That I panicked because I realized I trust Kon more than anyone else in this gods-forsaken universe and that thought terrifies me because trust is weakness? That answer?_

It probably didn’t matter anyway, because Kon wouldn’t get it. He trusted too easily. Even if Tim marched right up to him and said to his face, _I trust you with my life_ Kon would probably just say something like, _O..kay? Thanks._ Because most people on the team trust each other that much, Tim was the odd one out. He was the one that had contingencies on top of contingencies and didn’t tell anyone the whole truth.

The only person worse than him was Batman. And _that,_ was saying something.

Despite not being able to actually produce a solid argument as to why he wasn’t totally screwed _or_ a plan, Tim was at least more confident he could get through this by the time his allotted thirty minutes were up.

Kon was already waiting for him at the zeta tube. “Ready to go?”

From the way he was shifting on his feet, Tim could tell some part of Kon felt ridiculous going through all this just for a conversation, but they both knew why it was necessary. “Yeah. Did you pick a destination?”

“I was thinking Chicago.”

“Sounds good.” Tim discreetly wiped his sweaty palms on his pants. Why was he sweating?

Kon gestured for Tim to lead the way, so he did. He stepped out of the teleport and into the junkyard, noting the smell- bad but tolerable- and the setting sun.

A second later Kon was looking at it with him. Tim had a sudden flash back to staring at the horizon with Jason. The situations were more similar than he was willing to admit.

“I’ll never get tired of it.”

“Of what?” Tim asked, although he was pretty sure he already knew.

“Sunsets. Cadmus taught me what they were, but images planted in your brain just don’t compare.” Kon spoke softly. They both did. Something about the junkyard felt… quiet. It wasn’t a quality Tim was used to in his trash, but the place felt humbling. Like it existed to remind him that one day they’d all be here. They’d all end up in the trash one day, broken bodies returned to the Earth in an endless cycle. And that’s if they were lucky. That’s if there was a body left on Earth.

Tim had the urge to share that thought with Kon, cause what says I think you’re hot like reminding a guy that everyone dies eventually? “I guess I wouldn’t know.”

“Then let’s talk about something you do know.”

Tim sighed. For just a moment there, he’d been able to convince himself Kon would forget and they could just stare at the sunset together forever, but when had life ever been kind to Timothy Drake?

Kon turned to look at Tim, drawing the shorter boy’s gaze against his will. “Please. Tim, I need you to give me something. I know something’s going on. You’ve been avoiding me and apparently Jason’s alive which I know has to be really hard on you- particularly since I just saw him try to kill you less than a week ago- and before that with the stabbing you were bruised and it had nothing to do with Red Robin, not to mention your obvious sleep deprivation and malnutrition. I- I care about you and I want to help. Please, let me in.”

Kon’s hair was wet. Why was Tim noticing that now? How had he not noticed it before? “Jason didn’t try to kill me.”

Kon’s brows drew together in a kind of pleading confusion. “Tim I saw him attack you.”

“Yeah,” Tim said as if he was stating the obvious. “With his fists. If Jason were trying to kill me he would have used his guns, or at least some sort of weapon, like he did when-” He cut himself off.

“When?” Kon asked darkly. “Tim how many times exactly had Jason tried to kill you?”

Tim cast around hopelessly for an answer to that, but all he could really come up with was the truth. “He only really _meant it_ once.”

Kon’s eyes flared with anger, but he stamped it out quickly. “Tim that’s not _okay._ He can’t just try to kill you and you can’t just treat it like it’s all perfectly normal and okay.”

“It wasn’t his fault!” Tim protested. “He was high off Lazarus rage. That stuff is near irresistible, and he didn’t know me. I was a stranger who came in and replaced him.” Bitterness seeped into his words at the end and he could see the pieces clicking together behind Kon’s eyes. _Replaced._

“It really was the worst insult he could have thrown at me,” Tim whispered hoarsely. “I’m not- I was never- I was always supposed to be a stand in. I was there because Jason died and I was the only option. That’s it. The biggest part of my identity is a mistake. An unfortunate coincidence and a tragedy. And now Damian’s here to take his place as the one true Robin and Jason’s back and I’m just some idiot who doesn’t belong. I’m nothing. Everything I was is obsolete. The only reason I’m still around is because I stay out of the way and I keep my head out of family affairs. I-” When was the last time Tim had cried?

There were tears in his eyes now and his voice was getting more frantic and jagged by the second. He was falling apart and Kon was there to witness it.

_Kon._

Tim fell to his knees, crushed beneath the weight of everything he’d been holding back, and Kon fell right along with him. The next thing he knew, a strong pair of arms were wrapping around him, one arm crushing him against Kon’s chest, and the other hand tangling in his hair.

“It’s going to be okay,” Kon whispered, tucking Tim beneath his chin. “That’s not how they see it. Whatever you may think, Dick loves you. And however twisted the old Bat is, he loves you too. I don’t know who Damian is- the next Robin I’m guessing- but he doesn’t have anything on you. You will _always_ be my Robin.”

Tim sniffled, laughing softly. “And you’ll always be my clone boy.”

“You got that right.”

Slowly, hesitantly, Tim wrapped his arms around Kon, collapsing into his friend and clinging to the black fabric of his t-shirt as he sobbed.

Tim couldn’t remember the last time he’d hugged someone like this. It felt… good. It felt great.

When Tim’s sobs finally lapsed, Kon’s grip didn’t loosen. Long after that, when Tim pulled away, the sun had long since set.

“Thank you Kon.” Tim sniffled, using his shirt to wipe his face. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to fall apart like that. I shouldn’t have-”

“Don’t apologize,” Kon said firmly. “Never apologize for crying. Not when you need to, and you clearly needed to.”

Tim laughed weakly, taking a moment to soak in Kon’s soft smile and kind eyes. At length, he said, “I _am_ sorry I avoided you though. Seeing Jason that night was… it was a lot for me. I needed some time to sort through it all before we talked.”

Kon sighed. “I understand, but next time? Give me a little heads up. I was going crazy with worry.”

Tim smiled. “You were worried about me?”

Blushing, Kon stammered, “I, uh, yeah. I was worried. Is that… weird?”

Tim’s smile softened. “No, it’s sweet.” It wouldn’t occur to him until later that he hadn’t doubted Kon.

“You want to go home and beat Jaime and Bart at video games?” Kon offered.

“Yeah. That actually sounds… really nice.”

***

By the time Tim’s face had returned to its usual color (pale, but it least not sickly like the night of The Incident) and his sniffling had stopped, the conversation had been flowing pleasantly for several minutes. Kon was kind of surprised how much Tim was talking now that he’d opened up. They didn’t talk about anything serious, in fact kon could barely remember what they talked about after the fact, but he’d hold on to the pleasant feeling it gave him for a long time.

At last, Tim pulled a pair of sunglasses out of a pocket in his sweatpants that must have been there the whole time, and slipped them on, effectively covering the lingering redness in his eyes. “We should probably head out now.”

Kon agreed with a nod, following Tim to the zeta tube. Just before he stepped through, Tim paused and looked back at Kon. “Thank you. Really. It’s been… a while since I’ve been hugged. It was nice. And I do actually feel better having cried.” The whole time he was speaking, his face was scrunched up like he was forcing the words out, but there was an undertone of sincerity that convinced Kon, however hard that might have been to say, it was the truth.

He swallowed thickly. “Anytime.”

Tim smiled back at him and disappeared through the zeta tube. Kon took a second to recompose himself, and then followed him through.

He stepped out into utter chaos.

“-did you get here?” Tim was saying.

A small child in Robin’s colors crossed his arms and managed to look down his nose at Tim, despite being shorter. “Tt- even an ignoramus could reason I used the zeta tube. I do not understand what grandfather sees in a simpleton such as yourself.”

Tim’s frown deepened. “Damian,” he said warningly. “Does Bruce know you’re here?”

The kid seemed to wind up impossibly tighter. “ _Father_ does not yet understand the tactical advantages of me whipping your so called ‘team’ of inferior scum into shape.”

Kon would have been offended if he wasn’t so distracted by the costume and the ‘father’ comment. It was clearly a redesigned Robin costume and ‘father’ would make this kid _Bruce’s_ kid. Although Kon had known three Robins and not one of the had called Bruce father at that age. And that still left the question: Who was grandfather?

Then there was the name. Damian. Tim had used that name earlier.

_And now Damian’s here to take his place as the one true Robin…_

“Damian, you can’t just show up here. Bruce hasn’t explained… _you_ to the League yet. You know that. What are you going to do when Alfred finds out? What about Dick?” Tim asked, pinching the bridge of his nose between two fingers. “Not to mention you came in the whole circus get up- was that really necessary?- and you brought your swords too. Great. I thought Dick said he took those from you?”

“Tt-” Kon was really starting to hate that sound, “Grayson did confiscate my weapons, but I saw fit to liberate them for the sake of this journey. As for father, Alfred, and Dick, they will all praise me once I’ve challenged the strongest here to a duel and reigned triumphant. Then father will have to let me patrol.” Kon really didn’t like the glint in this kid’s eye.

“Yeah whatever you say pipsqueak,” Kon responded unable to keep quiet any longer. “Where the hell did Bruce get this one?”

Tim snorted, covering his mouth with a hand as if to smother the sound.

That seemed to enrage the munchkin. “I am Damian Wayne al Ghul. Heir to the Demon’s head. The combination of the ancient Al Ghul line and the noble Wayne line. Batman’s only true son, and the real Robin.” Damian smirked with satisfaction like he was waiting for Kon to quake in his boots.

Instead Kon laughed. “Taking yourself a little seriously there kid?”

Damian stamped his foot in anger. “How dare you? I am ten!” 

The next thing Kon knew, the ball of color had drawn his sword and was running right at him. Kon could barely stop laughing long enough to catch the blade in one hand and pick Damian up by his hood with the other.

“Kid, you’re not ready to fight this fight yet,” he said smiling in amusement as Damian swiped his fists harmlessly through air.

“I was going easy on you _clone._ Clearly Grayson has taught you more than I anticipated.” Damian finally seemed to realize how undignified swinging around looked, because he instead crossed his arms.

Kon rolled his eyes. “Whatever kid. I’m sure you have a playdate to attend or naptime or something so I think we should probably just take you home.” He glanced at Tim for confirmation.

Red Robin just shrugged. “I can call Dick to handle this.”

“Handle this- I am not a child!” Damian yelled childishly. “I don’t need Grayson to babysit me!”

“Except clearly you do since you escaped your play pin.” Tim said tapping Damian on the nose and ducking out of reach before the kid could retaliate.

Damian spluttered, a blush steadily growing on his dark skin, but Tim was already pulling out his communicator and calling Nightwing.

“The demon brat finally made it to the cave. I need you to come pick him up.”

Kon could hear Dick’s voice through the line. “We knew this would happen eventually. I’m on my way.”

Tim hummed in agreement and put away the communicator. He glanced over at Kon. “Watch out that cape-” and Damian was already gone. “Has a release,” Tim finished.

He sighed. “Damn. The demon spawn could be anywhere. We should probably go find him before he challenges someone to mortal combat.”

“Or,” Kon said eyeing Tim’s weary posture. “You could go drink a few gallons of water and take a nap. For eight hours. Minimum.”’

Tim faltered, biting his lip uncertainly. “I don’t really want to go back to the manor right now. It’s too… empty.” He looked guilty, but he didn’t take the statement back which Kon considered progress.

“That’s okay, you can sleep here.”

“I don’t actually have a room here.”

“That’s fine, you can sleep in mine,” Kon said offhandedly.

They both stiffened. “I mean, if that’s okay with you.”

“Y-yeah,” Tim stammered. “I… thanks Kon.”

Kon grabbed a supersized water bottle from the kitchen and led Tim to his room. “Uh yeah. This is it. Take as long as you need.”

“Wait- where are you going to sleep?” Tim asked before Kon could go.

“Oh, well, this Robin thing might take a while and after that Bart challenged me to a video game rematch which, knowing him, could take all night. So I’ll be alright.” Kon smiled reassuringly. “I’ll see you tomorrow Tim. G’night.” And he stepped out the door, closing it behind him.

“Good night.” Tim whispered to the door. He pulled off his shirt and downed half the water bottle before falling onto Kon’s bed.

It smelled like fresh country air, probably from the farm, and something uniquely Kon. Tim almost wished he could have stayed awake to smell it longer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I based Dick's story on Under the Red Hood.
> 
> On another note, if anyone wants to yell about Young Justice with me, my Tumblr is a-scattered-brained-fangirl.


	9. Three heads are better than one

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some parts of Kon's thought process were inspired by "Tim Drake is Alive and Evil!" the rebirth comic. (mainly the beginning conversation which is really good and interesting)

Kon hated Damian.

 _Hated_ him.

Okay, maybe he was exaggerating, but not by much.

The demon brat- Kon _definitely_ got the moniker now- had vanished into the base thoroughly by the time Kon was done saying goodnight to Tim. Even Kon’s super hearing was useless in trying to find him.

Not to mention Kon had felt like he personally let Nightwing down when he’d showed up to collect his little brother only to find him missing. Of course Nightwing just sighed like it was a regular thing and helped Kon search. After asking where Tim was, of course. He’d frowned when Kon told him, but agreed he needed the rest and left it at that.

At least he hadn’t called Batman. Kon could handle Dick’s resignation, but he wasn’t sure he could deal with the Batglare just then.

Finding the hellspawn was made even harder by the fact that Kon could barely stand to look Dick in the eye the whole time.

He’d known Dick his whole life (literally), but now all he could see was Tim’s growing panic as his confession forced itself out of him. It wasn’t Dick’s fault, it wasn’t even Damian’s as insufferable as he was. It wasn’t anyone’s fault.

Rationally Kon knew that. But irrationally? How could a family like theirs, a family Kon had always respected for their closeness, manage to make Tim feel that way?

It just didn’t make sense. The Bats were all insufferable with some serious personality issues, but they stuck together. They were a family and in Kon’s experience, that meant they loved and protected each other no matter what.

Kon closed his eyes and rested his head back against the couch he was laying on as images of Jason Todd’s funeral flooded his mind. He remembered Batman crumpled beside his son’s casket, hugging Nightwing and Batgirl close to his chest, as clearly as if it were yesterday.

Their family had been small then and it had just gotten smaller. Kon had thought that was it. He’d thought that Jason Todd’s death would be the downfall of the Bats.

Sure, Dick might come through it and continue to be Nightwing even after losing his little brother, and sure Barbra might be able to continue vigilantism, but that special something that bonded them all together as a family of Bats? Kon thought it was over. From a distance, he’d watched as Batman deteriorated, helpless to stop it as the Bat Family fell apart.

Then came Tim.

Of course Kon hadn’t known at the time that it was Tim, but he knew now. Tim had forced his way into Bruce’s life and he’d kickstarted the Bat Family again. He’d helped Bruce heal and because of him, they came together again. Not to mention the new members that seemed to be popping up constantly. The Bat colony, at least by the last count Kon had heard, now numbered around fourteen, and even if not all those people were in the immediate family per se, it was still amazing.

Kon chose to completely ignore the pang of longing in his gut at the thought of such a family.

The point was, Kon didn’t really think the Bats were completely to blame for Tim thinking that way. There was something else that made Tim himself default to expect that before anyone else even entered the picture.

Someone had taught Tim to think of himself as lesser. Taught him that he was only deserving of love or attention when he was being useful.

Someone _really_ deserved a fist to the face.

“So are we going to address the elephant in the room?” Cassie asked casually as she blue-shelled Jaime and retook the lead.

“The elephant being you’re a-” he started speaking in rapid fire spanish, the bottom line being if it were in English, Kon would be blushing. As it was, Kon could only assume he was swearing because he couldn’t understand a word of it.

Apparently Cassie did, because she nearly doubled over laughing, just barely keeping control of her car. “Hilarious, but no. With a mouth like that you’re gonna wake Bart up,” she said, referring to the speedster that had fallen asleep practically in Jaime’s lap. “And you do know my dad’s a God right? Although I think he might get a laugh out of your creativity.”

Jaime laughed. “That’s nothing compared to what Scarab said.”

“As curious as I am about _that,_ I was actually talking about Big Boy Blue Jr. over there.”

Kon opened one eye to look at the heroes on the other couch. “I’m awake you know.”

Cassie smirked. “I know.” Jaime muttered something about crazy supers, but Cassie spoke over him. “So? Are you going to tell us why you’re not doing that in your room?”

Kon hummed. “Doing what?”

“Sleeping.”

Sighing, Kon resigned himself to this conversation. It wasn’t like he spent his afternoon running around the base after a rogue Robin only to find him challenging Tigress of all people to a duel. “It’s complicated.”

“It’s not? You always go back to your room to sleep when I challenge people to Mario Kart,” Cassie replied.

“Can’t I just spend time with my friends?”

She snorted. “Yeah, it looks like you’re having a _blast._ ”

Kon shifted on the admittedly somewhat uncomfortable couch. “It’s not really a big deal.”

“Doesn’t mean I’m not curious.”

Kon thought about his options. They were… numbered. If he refused to tell Cassie or lied it would would only escalate the situation. Kon sighed in resignation. “My room’s occupied.”

“Red Robin?” Taking his silence as confirmation, she passed the finish line, winning the game, but by then, even Jaime wasn’t paying enough attention to complain much. “So, what? Are you two going steady? Cause that would be adorable. You could have little red babies all over the place.”

Kon frowned deeply, not responding. Catching sight of it, Cassie asked, “Something wrong?”

“Maybe,” Kon said non committedly.

“Did he do something to hurt you?” Trust Cassie to be protective seconds after making fun of you.

“No! Of course not,” Kon rushed to reassure her. “It’s more like… _he’s_ hurt.”

Jaime tensed. “Tim’s injured?”

Kon’s stomach rolled over at the question, and all he could see were the unexplained bruises, probably made by the same person that had taught Tim think of himself as lesser. “I think he’s hiding something.”

Cassie snorted. “Well duh. He’s a Bat. They’re all hiding something. It’s their thing.”

Shaking his head, Kon pushed himself into a sitting position to better continue the conversation. “No, I mean hiding something from _everyone-_ even the Bats. Something big. Something he _shouldn’t_ be hiding.”

“What exactly are we talking about here?” Cassie asked quietly.

“Not yet. I shouldn’t say anything until I’m absolutely certain, because if I’m right… someone’s going to have hell to pay,” Kon finished darkly.

Silence passed between them as Kon thought about the gravity of the accusation he was considering and the other two took in what Kon had said.

It was broken a moment later when Cassie said, “We care about him too. You don’t have a monopoly on Tim and whatever’s wrong, we can help you figure it out. For Tim’s sake.”

“Sí,” Jaime agreed, gently shaking Bart awake so the speedster could join the conversation.

After some mild complaining that was quickly shushed as Jamie explained why he’d woken him up, Bart fell silent and all three heroes looked at Kon, waiting for him to start.

“I think Tim’s being abused.”

“What?” Cassie whispered in shock.

Taking a deep breath, Kon dove in. “A few weeks ago I got a call from him and when I showed up at his house, he was bleeding out from a stab wound-”

“But he hasn’t taken any time off has he?” Bart interrupted.

“He took a week off and I don’t know how, but he healed that quickly.” Kon accompanied the answer with a glare that would hopefully stave off more questions for the time being. “I cleaned him up, but he was thin. Not quite ‘hasn’t eaten in days’ thin, but definitely on his way there. And he had a bunch of bruises all over and some nasty ones around his wrists that were too old to have been from when he was out as Red Robin. He got them as Tim Drake. Plus he ket begging me not to tell Bruce about any of it and he had a panic attack about all the blood on the carpet. He kept saying _she_ was going to kill him if she saw it.”

Sensing the slight pause in his tangent, Jaime stood up and walked away. At first Kon was afronted, but then Jaime was gesturing for them to follow and looking something up on the computer. “Did the bruises on his wrists look like this?”

Kon studied the picture closely, taking in the pattern and comparing it to what he remembered. “Yeah,” he said slowly, “just like that. What are they from?”

“Finish your story first.”

With a curious glance at Jaime, Kon continued, “Right so, the knife was buried up to the hilt in his side, but he walked into the cave a week later and it had already healed. Don’t know how he did that, but the weirdest part was, he was alone the entire week. I checked. His parents never came home, he never left, even though he told me they’d be home soon when I left. That was when we went on the Red Hood mission.”

The whole team was already abuzz with the news that Tim, Kon, and Bart had fought with Hood on their mission when Dick had told the entire team Red Hood’s identity. It had been a shock, but most of the younger heroes had never even known Jason.

Both Jaime and Cassie visibly perked up at the mention of that mission. The team only knew Jason was there, they didn’t know what happened.

“When Jason saw Tim… it was like someone waved the Joker in front of his face. He lost all control and attacked Tim. I thought he might kill him, but we were still being shot at so I couldn’t help him. A minute later they were just standing there talking like he hadn’t just tried to kill Tim and then Jason helped us finish the mission. When all was said and done they went off and talked for a long time. Which does make more sense now that I know who he is, but still.” Kon knew he was getting a little off topic from the ‘evidence Tim is being abused’ category, but Tim’s ability to completely disregard the fact someone attacked him seemed like valid information.

“Then last week, he was just gone. I didn’t see him at all. So after today’s mission I finally talked to him about it all and he just kind of… broke down on me.” Kon felt bad talking about this part. Like he was betraying Tim. But he knew it was important to the story. “He- he said he was _nothing_ and it sounded like he was quoting someone. He seemed so sure that nobody cares about him now that he’s not Robin and Jason’s back. You know how close the Bats are, I don’t think they’re the ones that gave Tim that idea.”

Kon fell silent, leading their little group back to the living room. He wanted to ask what they thought right away, but from the horrified look on Cassie’s face and the way Jaime kept twitching like he always did when he was talking to his scarab, Kon gathered they needed a minute. Bart just looked confused.

“This is bad,” Jaime finally said. “Really, _really_ bad.”

“A bit, yeah.”

“The bruise patterns you saw on his wrists are from someone holding his arms above his head. With a lot more force than necessary.”

Now that Jaime pointed it out, Kon wasn’t sure how he’d missed that.

“Just from the evidence you’ve mentioned, that’s emotional abuse, physical abuse, and neglect,” Cassie listed.

Kon’s gut tightened. “That’s why I wanted to be sure before I said something.”

“Tim has been active for like four years or something as a vigilante right? That’s four years and the Bats didn’t notice anything? How is that possible?” she asked.

“He’s really good at hiding it. I’m not sure why he hasn’t reached out though,” Kon replied with a pained expression.

Jaime winced. “A lot of abusers make their victim feel alone, like nobody can help. But since Tim has probably seen first hand that Batman _could_ help, that’s probably not it.”

“They probably made him feel like he doesn’t _deserve_ help,” Cassie whispered, hugging herself.

Kon might have let the silence stretch forever purely because horror had rooted him to the spot, but Jaime spoke up. “If they’re really that far into his head and Tim’s going to work against us on this, it will be really hard to help. We would need a perfect case to do anything if Tim tries to deny it. Particularly considering who his parents are.”

“Surely if we talk to Tim about it head on he would want our help right? Maybe he just can’t ask for it,” Cassie rationalized.

Kon smiled.

“What’s wrong with your face?” Cassie asked frowning.

“You said we.”

“Of course I did.”

“I’m just happy you guys want to help.”

“Of course we want to help, _pendejo_. We’re a team. We’re family.”

Cassie scrunched up her nose. “That makes you and Bart really gross.”

Jaime blushed, spluttering, “C-Cassie!” but Bart just smiled smugly.

“Why would a parent hurt their kid?” Bart asked after a moment, genuinely confused.

They all stared at him until it dawned on all of them at once that in Bart’s apocalyptic future childhood, parental abuse probably didn’t happen because everyone was a little busy being abused by the world.

Jaime put a comforting arm around Bart. “People here aren’t always… good. You know that, but some parents are especially awful to their kids. It can mess a kid up for life in a lot of different ways.” Jaime spoke bitterly and Kon was suddenly forced to consider what kind of personal experience he had with this issue.

Bart frowned. Kon knew he wasn’t exactly new to the horrors of the world, in fact he’d experienced some of the worst of it first hand, but there was something about knowing a parent could do that to their _child_ that made it so much more upsetting.

“So, how are we going to do this?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kon mentioned thinking there were fourteen members of the Bat colony and while some of them are pretty minor and won't even be in this story, I felt comfortable giving that number because the minor heroes in this universe wouldn't necessarily know the team. Anyway, the fourteen I was thinking of were:
> 
> Batman  
> Batwoman  
> Oracle  
> Orphan  
> Spoiler  
> Nightwing  
> Red Hood  
> Red Robin  
> Robin  
> Blue Jay  
> Batwing  
> Signal  
> Alfred  
> Catwoman
> 
> This is by no means a complete list but it was all the Batfam I could think of.


	10. Coffee Zombie

When Tim woke up, he was wrapped in warmth. 

That was weird, but not unnatural. At least it meant he hadn’t fallen asleep at the computer again.

The smell was a little off though.

Tim blinked his eyes opened and looked groggily around the room.

It definitely had less tastefully curated art pieces and thousand dollar rugs than he was used to. It was actually kind of barren.

Dragging himself out of bed, he stumbled towards the door, following some inner instinct to guide himself to the kitchen.

No stairs. That was nice.

Rubbing his eyes, Tim dragged his fingers through his too long hair and made the impossibly long trek to the kitchen with only one thought.

Coffee.

He wasn’t sure exactly when he’d attained the addiction to the heavenly nectar, but at this point, he could barely function without it in the mornings unless in mortal peril.

He was vaguely aware someone was staring at him as he walked through the living room, but he didn’t bother acknowledging them or checking who it was. It didn’t really matter as long as they didn’t get between him and coffee.

Finally he made it to the kitchen and zeroed in on the coffee maker. He started a pot of black coffee and promptly blacked out for a few minutes, slumping against the counter until the coffee was ready.

Tim perked up immediately, filling the largest mug he could find with the dark drink and nearly scoffing at the cream and sugar by the pot. Barely even noticing the bitter taste or scalding heat, Tim began drinking his coffee.

He got half way through before he slowed down and began savoring the drink as his mind finally began to reboot.

He was pretty sure he never finished the report for the mission yesterday. He’d have to get on that right away.

Wait… why hadn’t he finished the report? He always finished his case files. And everyone else’s for that matter. It was one of his ‘things’; he was always more than a month ahead in homework and he _always_ got his case file done first thing after a mission. Procrastination (more like completely avoiding really) was fine for social interaction, but not for work! What if Bruce had needed that case file while Tim was sleeping? What if the robots returned and made an obscure mid-combat-jibe that could only be understood if you had read Tim’s case file? What if the entire Justice League went out and looked like idiots fighting robots because they had no idea what the robots were talking about- and it was all Tim’s fault!

Tim drained the rest of his coffee and refilled his mug with a new urgency to his movements. He had to get to a computer ASAP.

He whirled around only to stop short at the sight of half the team.

Well technically not half the team. Just Bart, Cassie, Jaime, and Kon. But they were all staring at him like he was some bizarre creature from another world that had broken into the base and was now shaking its butt at them while eating bananas. Which was saying something seeing as he was arguably the most ‘normal’ human there and that exact scenario had actually happened before so you’d think they’d be less easily confused.

“What?” he asked, staring at them like they were crazy. How long had they been standing there watching him anyway? He probably should have noticed, but he wasn’t exactly his best in the mornings.

“You-? You just?” Bart stuttered, making vague hand gestures that could have been interpreted as any number of things. Including some violent cursing in a particularly obscure sign language Tim had been forced to learn at one point, but the probability Bart knew that was only around 4% so he didn’t bring it up.

“I what?” Tim asked, already plotting his way to the computer so he could finish his case file.

Bart whimpered in an ‘Oh my God’ kind of way that Tim really didn’t have the time to decipher and didn’t try to speak again. Tim frowned at them. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

Cassie’s jaw was still on the floor and Jaime looked almost scared of Tim (For Tim? No. That would be crazy.) so it was Kon that finally cleared his throat and composed himself enough to say something. “Tim, you just walked through the entire base without acknowledging anyone who said hello to you, looking like an actual zombie, and then fell back asleep just now.”

Cassie made a strangled noise and added, “You’re forgetting the part where he just downed an entire cup of steaming hot black coffee in less than five minutes.”

“Are we not going to point out the obvious one?!” Bart blurted out, looking to the others in distress.

Jaime sighed in resignation, finally breaking out of his trance. “You’re not wearing a shirt _ese._ ” 

Tim’s cheeks colored slightly as his eyes widened. “I honestly didn’t realize I was…” He looked down at himself. Luckily for everyone, he was still wearing his grey sweatpants from yesterday, but he had, in fact, forgotten to put on a shirt.

“In my defense, I’m used to waking up at the manor where there’s no one around to see me.” He missed the look of concern shot between his friends at the mention of usually waking up alone because he was to busy realizing that he didn’t much like being shirtless with four people staring at him. If they were… other people, it would be different. He was used to being shirtless in company, but not in company he _cared about._

Tim suddenly became very conscious of his scars- cause boy were there a lot of them. He crossed his arms over his chest hoping to cover something up. Seeming to get the hint, Bart sped away and was back in a flash (Tim hated himself for making that particular pun, even in his head.) with a shirt.

Tim nodded his thanks but didn’t trust words yet. Setting down the coffee mug, he pulled the black material over his head. When it settled, there was a red S over his chest.

Seeing exactly which shirt Bart had gotten, Kon groaned, caught between shooting death glares at a smiling Bart and being hopelessly distracted by the sight of Tim wearing his shirt.

Finally fully clothed, Tim picked his coffee mug back up and took a long pull from it. Reaching up with the hand that wasn’t still clutching his precious coffee, he carelessly ran his fingers through his hair, realizing suddenly that he probably looked like shit, even with a shirt on.

The four superheroes finally seemed to be pulling themselves together as the weight of the situation finally dawned on Tim.

He’d spent the night in Superboy’s room. He’d slept in Kon’s bed. He’d just walked through the entire base shirtless only to now be wearing _Kon’s_ shirt. He was behind on his case files. He’d-

Oh shit.

The memories he’d been ignoring in favor of coffee hit him like Harley’s mallet. Had he really poured his guts out to Kon and _cried_ in front of the half-Kryptonian?

Very aware that he still had company, Tim arranged his features into something that at least passed for composed. “What time is it?” he asked.

They all just stared at him.

Sighing, Tim mumbled, “Cause why would a bunch of teenage superheroes know the time?” and dug around in the deep pockets of his sweatpants. As he’d suspected, even an exhausted Tim had a phone on him at all times. He must have slept with it in his pocket. Thank god for deep pockets. He’d never know how Steph managed. (It did make her ability to pull random objects out of thin air even more impressive.)

He clicked the power button and checked the time.

His eyes widened in horror and he almost dropped the device. “Ten hours?” His voice came out strangled. “I’ve been asleep for ten hours?!”

“... that’s generally how long people sleep, yeah,” Jaime responded.

Tim shook his head, unlocking the phone to start checking news feeds and messages. “No no no, you don’t understand. Ten hours is practically a coma! B could have needed me! Not to mention how behind on my work I probably am because of this-”

Kon sighed. “Let me guess, the world could have ended in those ten hours.”

“Yes!” Tim blurted, striding towards the computer. The heroes parted for him like the Red Sea. “All sorts of things could have gone wrong,” Tim continued to ramble, “The Joker could have escaped Arkham, my teachers could have announced homework I didn’t know about already, there could have been a typhoon that hurt or even killed Batgirl and Orphan, Red Hood could have come over for dinner or worse, tried talking with B. That’s not even the worst of it! Mother and father could have come home and wondered where I was.”

The heroes trailed behind him, caught up in his rant with a kind of fascination and horror.

“Tim,” Kon said firmly, drawing the boys attention to him. “Nothing happened while you were asleep. We would have gotten an alert if half those things had happened and what would you have realistically done to stop a natural disaster?”

Tim leveled a determined stare at Kon and said completely seriously, “There are contingencies in place. But they only work if I hear about the typhoon before it strikes!”

“At this point, I don’t even doubt he has some sort of plan to fight natural disasters,” Bart said.

Tim nodded wisely. “Good because I do and your doubt would be wasted.”

Turning back to his mision, Tim sat down at the computer and began by starting a program that automatically checked all the news channels to report back to him relevant and accurate information. While that was running, he pulled up the sensors he had on the manor and his parents schedules. They weren’t home yet, but they would be sooner than anticipated.

Tim’s fingers stalled as he reread the itinerary. He had a day or so. Two weeks since their last visit. That was unusual. They were definitely early. Did he have an unexpected client? He shuddered involuntarily.

“Hey, Tim, you okay?” Cassie asked, eyes flicking between the computer screen and Tim’s frozen body.

“Yeah, everything’s fine,” came the preprogrammed response.

Shaking himself out of it, he brought up Arkham’s security cameras and checked on the Joker himself. He trusted the report about the rest of them, but he had to _see_ the Joker to be sure.

The white box room was as bright as ever and sure enough, curled on a bench so only his straight jacket and a shock of green hair were visible, was the Joker.

Tim exhaled in relief and switched over to the news feeds. Nothing big, but then it wasn’t as up to date as he would have liked. The gang wars in Gotham was escalating without any major players to draw clear lines. It was less a war and more a melee. But the important part was nothing out of the ordinary had happened in the last eight hours.

No natural disasters, Jason was still more or less MIA, no sightings of the Demon Brat, increased activity from the League of Assassins, but nothing specific(that was shady af), no new missions he’d missed, half the League was still in space on an offworld mission without any new updates, but the other half were handling Earth just fine for the moment.

Tim pushed back slightly, leaning away from the computer to rest his head back against the chair and momentarily close his eyes.

“Sooo… the world isn’t ending then?” Bart asked.

Tim frowned but answered his question anyway. “No. Nothing that needs my attention immediately. Although I might need to hit the streets in Gotham to help with the gang wars. They’re contained for now, but it’s getting worse and I have a hunch I’ll have to look into… ” He trailed off, thinking about what he’d have to do to see if he was right. None of it was pleasant.

_It’d be easier if you embraced your roots, Timothy. You are a Drake, and a Drake is ruthless._

His mother’s voice continued to echo in his head as he added, “Oh, and tell your sister happy birthday from me, Jaime.”

The amazed stares shifted from Tim to Jaime back to Tim.

“How did you- nevermind. I’m not even surprised.” Jaime sighed. “Thanks, I’m sure she’ll be happy you… remembered.”

Tim hummed in agreement and grabbed his coffee, draining what was left in the mug without opening his eyes.

Setting the empty mug off to the side, Tim pushed himself up into a proper sitting position and turned the chair to face the heroes. “Thanks for last night,” Tim started, speaking directly to Kon.

Kon’s cheeks colored slightly and he mumbled, “No problem.”

Addressing the entire group Tim continued, “I still need to write the mission report from yesterday, but is there anything you guys need… ?” Surely they needed something. They were still there after all.

Tim clocked the looks they passed between them, trying to decipher the uncertainty in the silent argument.

At length, Kon said, “Tim, we need to talk to you about your parents.”

Panic welled in Tim’s chest and his eyes darted around to look at the exits. He wasn’t sure why he was panicking though.

“What about them?” he asked, fighting to keep his voice steady.

Kon drew breath to respond, but before he could Tim’s cell phone went off. Grateful for the excuse Tim turned away from the team to pick it up.

“Red Robin here.”

He listened intently for a couple seconds before responding, “On my way.”

Standing up abruptly Tim logged out of the computer and grabbed his empty mug, turning to face the team. “This conversation will have to wait. Gotham needs me.” He said the last part in a surprisingly good imitation of Batman’s deep gravelly voice that made Bart laugh.

Then he disappeared to go get his costume and zeta tube to Gotham.

“That could have gone better,” Cassie grumbled.

“Maybe we should talk to the Bats before we confront Tim directly,” Jaime pointed out.

Kon sighed. “Maybe you’re right.”

***

Tim’s theory jumped about twenty percent in likelihood when he got to Gotham.

The gangs were too… not organized exactly, but there was a pattern to their attacks. A finesse. And they managed to cover the entirety of Gotham with a completeness that _could not_ be coincidental.

Needless to say, it was an all hands on deck situation.

 _This,_ Tim thought, _**this** is what happens when I oversleep._

To his credit, Batman’s first instinct had been to bench some of the newer vigilantes, but when Signal ignored him and hit the streets, the rest followed suit. At that point the best they could do was have Oracle assign them to evacuation in an attempt to keep them from the big fights.

By the time Tim got there, things were already bad.

“Red Robin, report in,” came the mechanicalized voice of Oracle.

“I’m here. Just tell me where to go.”

“Get to the docks.”

 _At least one good thing is going to come of this,_ Tim thought as he started his beloved Red Wing. He hadn’t taken his baby out in ages.

Speeding through the streets Tim saw utter chaos. He was forced onto sidewalks and even a few low roofs at one point to navigate it all.

He passed Bluebird leading a group of civilians to safety and Batwoman swinging from one fight to the next. He even caught a suspicious glint of Red when on his way around Crime Ally.

But it wasn’t until he passed Nightwing locked in a fierce battle with deathstroke of all people that Tim knew he was right.

The docks. Would _he_ meet Tim there or would Tim have to go looking for him?

Tim wondered if it was worrisome he didn’t even have to search for the answer.

Less than a minute later Tim saw exactly why Oracle had sent him here.

The whole place was chaos. Everywhere Tim looked someone was fighting. Dead bodies were beginning to pile up and even in the few seconds Tim watched, several were unceremoniously dropped into the bay.

Tim fiddled with his voice modifier absentmindedly, switching the settings to amplify his voice and stepping into semi shadow where they couldn’t clearly see him.

“I’m only gonna say this once.” So maybe he made his voice a bit deeper with more gravel. Sue him. “Stand. Down.”

As the fighting stopped and everyone stared at him, Tim was reminded of when he was finishing his training with Lady Shiva.

_You are nothing. You are **less** than nothing. You are a child._

He closed his eyes, letting the memory wash over him for another moment.

_That is how your opponents must see you. They will underestimate your skills because of your age and size. That is your advantage._

And that worked most of the time, but it sure didn’t help with intimidation.

Luckily, he didn’t have to intimidate them into stopping. Not if he was right.

“I’m ready to talk _Ra’s_. Just call off the fighting. This is between you and me.”

For a moment nothing happened and Tim considered that maybe he was wrong. It was still a 12% possibility. But Ra’s was Ra’s and sure enough a single person slow clap rang through the air.

“Very good, detective.” Ra’s stepped out from behind a building, flanked by a guard of ninjas from the League of Assassins. It would have been a really cool dramatic entrance if Tim wasn’t immediately wondering how long they’d been standing behind that building setting it up. “Although I expected nothing less from you. _Leave us._ ”

All the combatants dropped their weapons, stood tall to the best of their variously wounded abilities, and bowed to the Demon’s Head before clearing out.

“Aw Ra’s, all this just for some alone time with me? You could have just called,” Tim said, leaving Red Bird at the top of the rise and sliding down the hill onto the docks themselves.

“I wanted to make sure I had _all_ of your attention,” Ra’s purred with an animalistic smile.

Tim surveyed his situation. The docks had cleared, leaving Tim alone with the Demon’s Head- plus or minus a dozen ninjas. If Tim didn’t call in anything, no one would come. But if he didn’t check in, they _might_ worry enough to send someone.

The ninjas fanned out, slowly encircling the pair. Tim wasn’t sure he could realistically fight them all. At least, he couldn’t win. And if he ran now they would just chase after him and the massacre simply wouldn’t stop.

“Red Robin, update,” Oracle’s voice sounded in Tim’s ear.

Technically, Ra’s probably shouldn’t have been able to hear that, but his smile widened dangerously all the same.

“Are you going to answer that, detective?”

Oracle’s voice buzzed in his ear more urgently, “Red Robin! Report it!”

Slowly, without breaking eye contact with Ra’s, Tim raised his hand to his com and said, “I’m fine. Busy, but I’ve got things under control here.”

Static crinkled across the comms indicating Oracle’s relieved sigh. “Report in if you need backup.”

“Red Robin out.”

“Not going to tell daddy Bats I’m here then?” Ra’s asked.

Tim shrugged nonchalantly, relaxing his posture. “If I were to call in backup, you would try to kill them then I would have to try to kill you and it would all be tedious and get us nowhere. Plus we’d all be dead since the League would have to kill me in retaliation.”

Ra’s gasped quietly, bringing a hand to his chest. “You would break the one rule to try and kill me? I’m touched I have that kind of _effect_ on you.”

Of course Tim would never break the rule, even if Ra’s did something truly awful. At least not in a way that could be traced back to him. But Ra’s didn’t need to know that.

_Let your enemy overestimate their power until you’re ready to make your move. Then destroy them before they even realize they never had a chance._

“So what’s it going to take to get you to call off this attack?” Tim asked pulling out and extending his bo staff just to lean on it. Ra’s made no move to even acknowledge the weapon, but the ninjas all shifted slightly forward.

“Attack?” Ra’s asked innocently. “All I see is an unfortunate gang war cause by the Bat’s personal failure.”

Tim made no outward reaction as he tried to figure out what that meant. Failure? How had Bruce-

Oh. Jason. Ra’s was blaming this attack on the power vacuum Jason had left.

Rage welled in Tim at the implication that Jason was nothing more than Bruce’s failure, but he clamped it down and didn’t act on it. He wanted something from Ra’s and was in no position to antagonize the Demon’s Head over pointless arguments such as an insult.

“Allow me to rephrase,” Tim corrected smoothly. “Would you be so kind as to step in and help end this… gang war?”

Ra’s hummed, enjoying the rush of power he felt at Tim’s request. “Now what would _I_ gain from that?”

Tim quirked a suggestive smile. “That all depends on what you _want._ ”

“I am ever so lonely.” The older man sighed dramatically. “Perhaps I could persuade you to go on a boat ride with me in exchange for my help.”

Tim had expected about as much. If he got on that boat, there would be no rescue mission. No one would know what had happened to him and in the fallout from the battle, they might not even notice his disappearance for several hours. They might even just assume he died in action. Basically, he’d be Ra’s prisoner indefinitely for the Demon’s head to do with as he pleased.

A wave of horror washed over Tim as he realized if Ra’s kept him prisoner, he might not make it home before his parents.

“I would love to, but I am _really_ worried about my friends. I don’t want anything to happen to them while I’m… away.” Tim sighed sadly.

“Nothing to worry over. If you come with me, the attacks with cease immediately and all they’ll have to do is damage control. Surely you’re… ‘friends’ can handle such a simple task without you?” Tim felt a small wave of satisfaction that all the blood shed could be stopped for as little a price as his life, but it was a little overshadowed by the thought of his parents making it home before him.

Of course, that wouldn’t matter if Tim came home from this in a casket.

On the other hand, the death toll was already rising from the attacks and things would only get worse the longer they continued. The police had so far been pretty ineffectual and there were only so many vigilantes. If the fighting didn’t stop soon, a lot of people would die. Any one of Tim’s f-... friends, could end up amongst the dead.

That decided it.

“Well I _have_ always loved the water.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Concerning Shiva's quote, I would like to add that to her credit, the full quote is:
> 
>  
> 
> _You are nothing. You are **less** than nothing. You are a child. That is how your opponents must see you. They will underestimate your skills because of your age and size. That is your advantage. **But you must never see yourself that way.**_
> 
>  
> 
> I just don't think that's the part Tim would remember sooo.
> 
> Also, did anyone catch my jibe at girl’s pockets? It’s cause I’m salty.


	11. Polite conversation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, I mention 'the hero who'd been damselled' and if that makes sense to you or even if it doesn't, you should watch Overly Sarcastic Productions' youtube video on the Damsels in Distress trope. I'd link it if I could make that work, but after ten minutes of trying I gave up. But yeah, it's really good.

“ _They just… stopped,_ ” Batwoman said into the comms.

“ _Here too,_ ” Batwing reported.

The sound of typing filled the background as Oracle said, “ _They stopped **everywhere.** Everyone just… stopped fighting._ ”

“ _Deathstroke just **walked away** from me. And he called me kid! I’m offended,_ ” Nightwing whined.

Exasperated sighs filled the line as Batman ordered, “ _Start cleaning up. The fighting’s stopped, but the night’s not over. Is everyone accounted for?_ ”

Oracle began roll call, calling out everyone’s name and getting their damage report.

Nothing major. No one was dead. But there were a few broken bones and Damian got the worst of it. Suspiciously, they were all injuries that would heal with no lasting damage…

When it was his turn, he kept direct eye contact with Ra’s as he spoke, very aware the fighting could start again at any minute if he misstepped. “Red Robin; no injuries to report.”

Ra’s practically oozed amusement, his cold eyes never leaving Tim.

Suppressing a shiver, Tim pulled his comm out and broke it between two fingers, tossing the pieces away. Most of them anyway.

“If you are reassured that your compatriots are safe and sound as promised, our ship is ready to go,” Ra’s purred.

Tim looked back at the Gotham skyline, hoping this wouldn’t be the last time he saw it. Preferably not even the last time before… say, his parents got home? “Lead the way.”

’Ship’ felt like a rustic way to describe it. The correct term was somewhere between pleasure cruiser and yacht.

Or floating fortress. That could also work.

“Does she have a name?” Tim asked politely.

“She’s called _Yuki-Onna,_ ” Ra’s said proudly.

Tim stared at him for a moment before looking back at the ship. “Fitting.”

Chuckling, Ra’s lead him below decks to a study of sorts, geturing for him to take a seat. “Make yourself comfortable. Care for a drink?”

Tim humed, settling on the couch and pretending not to notice how uncomfortable his costume was in a relaxing situation. “Depends. Do you have any coffee?”

“I’m afraid not. ” Ra’s began making himself a drink, leaving Tim a moment to survey the room. Sealed portholes and only three doors. The one they’d come in led to a hallway from which he could get back above decks and probably connected to the rest of the ship as well. From the placement of the second, it was probably a kitchen or storage space. The third was an unknown Tim wasn’t willing to bet on.

The room, much like Ra’s himself, had a gold and green color palette that looked expensive and built to entertain several rich guests at any one time. Particularly if the several overstuffed couches were anything to go off of.

Perched on his own overstuffed couch, Tim considered the predicament he’d gotten himself into. He was familiar with how this situation generally played out when it was with his clients. They would usually get nice and drunk, invite Tim to relax, and then start to make ‘polite’ but pointless conversation to cover up the fact they were eyeing Tim like he was steak dinner at a five star restaurant.

But considering this was Ra’s, there would be no ‘pointless’ conversation.

This would be as much a business deal and a battle of wits as it was a… transaction.

When Ra’s settled beside him, notably on the same couch instead of any of the other numerous options, he had a glass of wine in hand. “So, how are things? I have been worried about you, since your allies have been so busy.”

Tim cocked his head. “I haven’t the faintest clue what you mean.”

“Oh I doubt that _detective._ ” Ra’s sighed and looked away from Tim, fingering the edges of his glass. “I just meant that you must be feeling so lonely, what with my daughter’s son replacing you as Robin and your predecessor returning from the dead via a Lazarus pit.”

Tim remained silent as he considered the wording. Ra’s was trying to throw him off balance and make him doubt himself so that it would be easier to influence him. But it was more than that. He was framing it specifically to fault Thalia.

He began to get an idea of what exactly Ra’s wanted from him.

“You know how it is. I stay busy,” Tim deflected.

“ _Very_ busy if the state of your city is anything to go by. Or, the state of _Batman’s_ city, I should say.”

Raising an eyebrow to hopefully keep Ra’s eyes on his face while he readjusted his position to reach his wrist computer, Tim said, “I assume you’re referring to the gang wars you caused?”

Ra’s pulled a hurt look. “You mean the gang wars that were born from the Red Hood’s sudden… departure?”

Tim smiled patronizingly. “Of course.”

Ra’s leaned over so his face was close enough Tim could feel his breath. “Trying to contact your friends, detective?” Only then did Tim notice his hand was wrapped around Tim’s wrist tight enough to bruise.

Tim leaned just a little closer, refusing to give ground. “So what if I was?” The thing in his stomach that still felt such emotions, was revolted, telling him to lean as far away as possible from this man and maybe start panicking about the fact that his escape options were quickly dwindling along with his chances of having a life after this was all over.

But he kept calm and in control. He wasn’t powerless here and if Ra’s was really going to hold him captive, it would do no good to give away all his cards now. And if he was going to die… well he didn’t want to die while having a panic attack.

Ra’s smiled, little more than a quick flash of teeth, before he was leaning away to return to his former place on the couch. “Then I won’t stop you.”

“What?”

Okay. Tim hadn’t seen that coming. Was this the Twilight Zone? A hallucination from some kind of drug? The Matrix?

There was no way Ra’s was really planning on letting him just walk away.

Ra’s shrugged nonchalantly, taking a long sip of his wine before saying, “Go ahead. Press your ‘panic button’ and see if they come.”

Oh.

Tim’s heart beat harder.

He wanted to say _of course they’ll come,_ because that was the script this type of thing followed. The part of the movie where the hero who’d been damselled insisted on the power of friendship and in the end got saved, proving the villain was the only one who was really alone.

So why wouldn’t the words come?

“Lost your nerve? Decided you don’t want to know the answer to that question, _detective?_ ” Ra’s whispered.

Without breaking eye contact, Tim engaged his distress call.

“I don’t lose my nerve.”

“Well won’t that make this fun. How shall we use our time while we wait?”

***

20 minutes later Tim was wearing a perfectly tailored suit (wtf Ra’s?) with the jacket off and playing the second most hard game of chess in his life. If the first was Batman, Alfred, the Riddler, or Janet, no one would ever know.

Honestly, things could have been going a lot worse.

“What is your opinion of my grandson?”

Welp. It was fun while it lasted (not really) time to surrender to the void.

“When Damian first showed up, he was brutal,” Tim started, moving his knight to corner his opponent’s queen. “He slipped out from under Bruce’s nose the first week, killed a mugger, and brought back his head.”

Ra’s chuckled. “A true child of the League.”

Tim frowned. “No kidding.”

“You don’t like him?” Ra’s asked, giving up on saving his queen to instead move a bishop.

“I respect his abilities and understand his… childhood,” he replied diplomatically, claiming the queen.

“Understanding a person is not liking them.”

“If it were, I would be the friendliest vigilante in the world.”

Ra’s laughed. “That you would.” Claiming one of Tim’s pawns, he asked, “How about your teammates? Do you get along with them?”

Tim absolutely _refused_ to think about Kon while he was around Ra’s. Ever. “What is this? Talking with the parents? Catching up with a distant relative?”

“Is that how you see me?” Ra’s asked innocently. “As a parental figure?”

“How would you like me to see you?” Tim knew he was going to win the game of chess that move. Well, he was going to win in 9-16 moves, depending on how quickly Ra’s caught on, but still.

“I think we could make quite a team. Partners, one might say.”

“Partners?” Tim asked. “I’ve always loved that term. It’s so… vague. Are we opening a law firm? Fighting crime? Gritty detectives? Romantic? Contestants on a dance show? Best friends?”

Ra’s smiled became strained. “Few of those are possible for people like us.”

Tim nodded. “You’re right. Obviously you’re proposing we learn to tango and go on _Dancing With The Idols._ Imagine how many viewers a superhero special could draw in.”

“As fun as that would be,” Ra’s seemed to be struggling to keep his cool now, “it’s not what I meant.”

Tim sobered, dropping the oblivious act. “How would you expect that to work? I don’t kill, remember.” He moved his castle, officially signalling the beginning of the end he’d plotted ten moves ago to Ra’s. “ _Checkmate._ ”

Ra’s studied the board for a moment in stunned silence. “You won.”

Smirking, Tim replied, “Should have put money on it.”

“See? This is exactly why you should join forced with me. As Red Robin you are limited. Your people have abandoned you since my grandson took your place, thanks to Thalia. But as a high ranking member of the League of Assassins, you could do so much more- _be_ so much more. I could have monuments built to you, get you anything you desired, _destroy anyone_ you desired. Think of all you could do with our resources. Think of all you could accomplish without Bruce’s silly rules.” Ra’s eyes danced as if he were truly seeing the future as he spoke.

“I see in you what others have been so quick to dismiss. You’re smarter than Bruce. You’ve outgrown him and his silly limitations. With your mind, you could be a God among men, bending their wills to whatever whims please you. You could be eternal. And I would be there at your side. To help you, to guide you. You wouldn’t be alone anymore. You would have someone on your level who sees you as I see you; better than Batman.”

Wow. Okay. Better than… ? How was Tim supposed to respond to that?! He’d known Ra’s wanted him on his side to use his abilities and knowledge, but this was on a whole new level.

Tim opened his mouth to reply with something, anything really, but before he could gunfire sounded above deck, followed by a loud thump.

Ra’s snarled in anger. “Who could possibly-?” Before his rage could spiral, Ra’s checked himself and instead said, “It appears your friends did come for you. I’ll have to hear your answer another time.”

Then he walked away. Just like that. Tim blinked at the exit Ra’s had gone through, completely unable to move.

_Someone had come._

The knot that had been tightening in his gut the entire time they’d been speaking finally loosened.

He’d been starting to think-

No. He couldn’t let himself fall into that spiral.

Tim took one final look at the chessboard, knocking the enemy king over with one finger. He just stood there and stared, not thinking about anything as the gun fire above him stopped. 

After a long time, he spoke aloud the words he wished he’d been able to say to Ra’s. “I’ll never be your weapon.”

Then he grabbed the suit jacket off the back of his chair and swung it over his shoulder, whistling as he made his way above deck.

As he passed the bathroom he’d changed in, (Thankfully Ra’s hadn’t been that pervy. At least he hadn’t gotten there yet.) he shrugged the jacket on and instead tossed the Red Robin suit over his shoulder, only putting on his utility belt. Of course he’d never even removed his mask, even if Ra’s already knew who he was.

Finally reaching the deck, Tim found it was already more or less cleaned out.

He froze in the entrance, staring at the figure before him and the discarded bodies of ninjas surrounding it. Probably? Alive? Tim didn’t have the brain cells left to wonder about that. 

“Kon.”

The half-kryptonian in question whirled around, eyes filled with rage until they locked onto Tim and everything about him, from his features to his stance, seemed to soften. 

“Tim.” 

He didn’t waste another moment before closing the distance between them and pulling Tim into a bone crushing hug.

He should have been focussing on questions like, ‘Why is Kon here?’, ‘How did Kon know to come?’, and ‘Why Kon and not one of the Bats pre-programmed into the distress signal by Oracle?’, but all he could focus on was Kon’s arms enveloping him.

Kon gave good hugs. Tim wished kon would hug him more.

Wait what?

When Kon pulled away, Tim realized he’d been returning the hug for quite awhile. When had that happened? He didn’t remember his arms moving.

Before he could think better of it, Tim blurted, “Why are you here?”

Kon frowned. “I got your message.” Misinterpreting Tim’s confusion, he added, “I thought we’d gone over this, I will _always_ come when you call.”

“It’s not that- well it is- but mostly, what message?”

“It was kind of like I heard you?” Kon blushed.“You said it was a frequency only I could hear and that you were in trouble and to follow the source.”

It suddenly donned on Tim. “Ohhh. Right. That. Damn, I made that at like 4 am in the morning after two all nighters. I forgot about it.”

Sometime around when Tim realized that he was no longer useful to the assorted Bats and that he trusted Kon the most of his teammates to do the right thing and in general, he’d used stolen LexCorp tech to program a message to Kon on his distress button. It was an add-on none of the others had and one he hadn’t thought about since.

“See this is why you need to take better- what are you _wearing?_ ”

Tim looked down at himself. “Is it bad? I rather like it. I think the wine-red makes my eyes pop.”

Glaring daggers at him Kon said, “You know that’s not what I meant.”

“Do I?” he asked innocently.

“Ra’s had it made for me. It’s perfectly tailored, however he managed that, and it’s in my color so I thought I’d keep it. I already searched it for bugs and it doesn’t have any. Who knows? Maybe I’ll wear it to the old bastard’s funeral just to spite him.” Tim held his arms out, turning in a circle to show Kon the whole thing. “Or maybe I’ll burn it. Haven’t decided yet.”

“Burn it,” Kon agreed.

“And deprive the world of this glorious sight?” Tim said with fake offense. “I like the evil way you think.”

Kon’s mouth twitched in a smile. “Wait, no I’m mad at you!” It turned down in a frown again.

“How are you already mad at me? You’ve only been here 3 minutes!”

“You worried me!” _That_ froze Tim on the spot. “Dammit Tim, I thought you were dying again. I thought, ‘What could be worse than bleeding out on his own carpet?’ and I naturally assumed you were already dead!”

“And you still came?” Tim asked quietly.

“Of course I came Tim! I care about you! And if I hadn’t come, what would have happened to you then?”

Tim shrugged. “Ra’s probably would have locked me up and deprived me of coffee until I finally broke and became his apprentice-slash-consort-slash-personal-strategist.” Before Kon could even start to think up a reply to that, he continued, “But I had it under control.”

“Under control?” Kon asked a tad hysterically, not even sure which part of that nightmarish sentence to focus on.

“Yeah.” Tim pulled the tiny piece of his communicator he’d palmed earlier from his glove. “This would have led Oracle straight to me whenever she realized I was missing and thought to check for the signal. And the distress button I pushed that called you, also sent a message to the Bats.” The last part came out more quietly.

Sure _someone_ had come, and Tim had probably never been happier to see Kon, but the Bat’s _hadn’t_. Ra’s had accomplished that. Tim knew the answer now.

“Not to mention any escape plans I totally would have figured out on my own,” Tim finished.

Kon shook his head. “I can’t tell if you’re arrogant or confident.”

“The difference is results.”

“I guess yours don’t lie.”

“Why thank you.” Tim bowed. “I aim to please.”

”So where is the son of a bitch?”

Tim looked around as if Ra’s would suddenly pop up at that perfect opportunity for a dramatic entrance. “He got away.”

Kon studied Tim’s face. “Should we… go after him?”

“Nah. He’s probably long gone by now.” He smirked. “Besides, he’ll come to me if I give him time.”

Kon’s eyes bugged in alarm. “You know that’s a bad thing right? We need to go after him first.”

”You don’t just ‘go after’ people like Ra’s and he’ll come for me no matter what. He proved that today. He has the resources and the drive, but I have something better.”

“What’s that?” Kon asked with a mixture of concern and amusement.

“I’m the goddamn Red Robin,” Tim deadpanned in his best imitation of Batman.

Kon burst out laughing.

Yup. That was what Tim needed. Not to be saved. Not to get home in time. Not the Bats. Not even coffee.

Just, Kon laughing. It loosened something that had been tightly coiled in his chest for a long time.

When Kon’s laughter finally subsided he said, “Come on. Let’s go home.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anyone was wondering, the ship name (Yuki-Onna) is from a Japanese female ice demon of the same name who lures mortal men into snow storms with her perfect skin and large... eyes, so they'll die in the frigid weather.
> 
> Also, I'm aware that the whole 'frequency only Kon can hear' is total BS because there are other kryptonians on Earth, not to mention the dozens to hundreds of meta humans with hearing abilities, BUT Lex canonically uses it and explicitly states ONLY Kon can hear it in a Young Justice episode so...


	12. The Devil Went Down to Georgia

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I went back to reread this whole fic and whoops. There were a few inconsistencies in the first three chapters, nothing big (they were throw away lines that don’t line up with the rest of it like thinking Kon was the only one who knew Tim’s identity), but still. Let this be a lesson kids. Don’t write and post three chapters before you actually plot.

Kon could really get used to carrying Tim.

The shorter boy had glared at him for a moment and muttered, “Don’t drop me.” Before wrapping his arms around Kon’s neck and letting Kon scoop him up to carry him bridal style.

It had honestly been a bit of a shock. He hadn’t even had to suggest it, Tim just kind of sagged into his arms like it was where he wanted to be.

Kon blushed at the thought, he was really, _really_ trying not to think about Tim being in his arms in less innocent situations. Or worse. More innocent ones.

Tim waking up in his arms after a night of just cuddling, Tim jumping into his arms in greeting, Tim leaning on Kon when he was tired, Tim-

Shit shit shit, think about something else. Anything else.

And what was more distracting than the call he’d received just an hour ago?

“ _Ok so this is going to be confusing but bear with me._ ” Kon had nearly jumped out of his skin in shock at the completely calm and resigned voice, resonating in his head. “ _It’s Tim. I’m in trouble. This is a prerecorded message programmed into my panic button and it’s on a frequency only you can hear. So basically, I’m probably dying? Idk. I’ve never used this panic button and I’d hoped I never would, but I’m using it now, so follow this frequency and it should lead you to me. I mean if it’s not an inconvenience or anything. K, thanks. See you soon. Hopefully._ ”

If a stab wound that nearly killed him meritted a phone call, Kon could only guess what would have been so bad it called for a panic button.

He’d pictured Tim, his costume in shreds and his mask ripped off, being tortured for information in a basement somewhere and his blood ran cold.

Honestly it was a miracle he hadn’t called in the entire Justice League. If he hadn’t been blinded by fear and just trying to get to Tim as quickly as possible he probably would have.

Tim rested his head against Kon’s shoulder, his hair blowing in the wind and bringing back _another_ memory from that morning.

And Kon was blushing again.

He’d thought he was dreaming when Tim had walked past him that morning shirtless, crazy haired, and completely unresponsive, trailed by not one but three confused team members. He’d still been more bewildered than anything when Tim had fallen asleep on the counter, turning quickly to concern and horror when he’d practically chugged steaming hot coffee.

But when Tim had turned around, his eyes finally bright with some semblance of life, Kon’s mind had totally blanked. Tim had never been the bulkiest hero around, Robins rarely were (even Jason had only _really_ bulked up as Red Hood), but Tim was wiry and somehow Kon found that sexier. Not to mention his hair did things to Kon that had no place in a communal kitchen.

The whole encounter only fueled Kon’s evergrowing daydream of running his fingers through that hair.

Hair that was now tickling his chin.

What exactly had happened to Tim on that ship? Despite his unconcerned manner, Tim had been shaking as he told Kon about his escape options.

“What the hell happened here?” Kon asked, suddenly realizing that below them, Gotham was in absolute turmoil.

“Right, that.” Tim sighed, continuing in a monotone voice, “Ra’s sort of faked a city wide gang war to get my attention and extort me into going with him. That’s why I got on the ship. So he’d tell everyone to stop fighting and people would stop dying.”

Kon looked down at him in horror, but Tim seemed completely unimpressed, as if it wasn’t even a big deal.

Clearing his throat, Kon tried, “I may regret asking, but why did Ra’s want you specifically?”

Tim shrugged as much as one can shrug while being carried a couple hundred feet in the sky. “He identified me as the Bat most susceptible to manipulation- a foolish judgement really- and wanted to give me the whole ‘join the darkside’ speech complete with ‘they’re just holding you back’ and ‘with me, you could be great’. If he wasn’t such a perverted freak, I might have even been flattered. You know, if he hadn’t caused hundreds of deaths today.”

For a second, Kon was forced to imagine a world with an evil Tim.

Still imagining.

_Still_ imagining.

Yup, they’d all be screwed. Between the information in Tim’s head and the way he was able to use it, he could probably be the biggest threat Young Justice had ever faced. He knew all of their weak points and if he really joined Ra’s, he’d have the resources to exploit every one of them, particularly if he gave up his moral code.

Kon involuntarily shuddered, thanking the gods that Tim would never go all Anakin Skywalker on them. (Yes, he’d seen Star Wars. Tim had marathoned it with him, saying it was an atrocity for anyone on Earth to have not seen it and Kon deserved the full human experience, which apparently involved Star Wars.)

“Well then he’s not half as smart as he thinks,” Kon said. “Cause, you’ve got friends who would drag your ass back to the light any day of the week.”

Kon felt more than heard Tim’s heart skip a beat which was still a new sensation. Also one that was right up there will hair pulling fantasies.

“T-thanks. I don’t plan on testing that theory though.”

“Good. Moral arguments give Wolf indigestion.”

The comment had the desired effect and Tim burst out laughing.

Kon took a moment to just smile fondly down at him.

_Tim_. In _his_ arms. Whole and healthy and _safe_.

“So, where do you want to go? Your comm is missing,” Tim touched his ear in surprise like he’d forgotten about that. “So I don’t suppose you can contact the Bats to tell them you’re alright? Or is there some sort of pre planned meeting point I should take you to?”

Tim went stiff in his arms. “No. I don’t think they need me on this one. I should just go back to the manor.”

“Okay,” Kon said slowly, turning towards Wayne Manor. Wouldn’t the Bats want to know Tim was fine? Had they even known he was in trouble? Surely someone as prepared as Tim had a panic button that sent messages to more than one person. Right? “Wayne Manor isn’t far, we should be-”

“No!” Tim yelped in alarm. “I meant Drake Manor. I should go… home.”

They both heard his hesitation over the word ‘home’.

Kon’s grip on the smaller boy involuntarily tightened. “Tim, you were just in an incredibly stressful and dangerous situation. I don’t think you should be alone right now. If for some reason you don’t want to be around the Bats, that’s okay, but will you at least come back to Mount Justice with me?”

“I-” Tim cut off a response he’d probably had preplanned. “Wait- what? You… want me to go with you?”

“Yes.” Kon affirmed. “Your house is… nice, and all, but it’s kinda empty and you could use a distraction. Like say, video games? Or you could show me that movie you referenced back at the warehouse. Or maybe you could go into more detail about what happened with Ra’s. Whenever you’re ready on that last one though.”

Tim snorted. “Yeah, okay. That doesn’t sound so bad.”

Kon whooped in victory making Tim laugh.

“Home sweet home, here we come.”

***

For some reason, Tim hadn’t wanted to use the Batcave’s zeta tube so the flight was longer than necessary, not that Kon was complaining, but they eventually made it to Mount Justice.

Kon walked into the living room, listening to Tim ramble on.

“And that’s just in phase 1! Phase 2 is even better, they have multiple heroes in each movie and they acknowledge this is all happening in the same universe. Like, half the heroes are all in one movie and it’s fantastic! By the time they get to the big crossover it really will be the most ambitious-”

Kon was so busy smiling at Tim he missed the reason he’d cut off. “What-?” Kon looked up and oh.

Tim cleared his throat. “Hey, Cassie. How are you.”

Cassie’s eyes flicked between them, her face shockingly blank. “I’m good. Why is Kon carrying you?”

So maybe Kon had forgotten to put Tim down, but the shorter boy hadn’t said anything either so it wasn’t totally his fault!

Prompted by Tim’s small cough, Kon set him down.

Luckily, Tim answered Cassie. “Well, that is an excellent question. He had to fly me here.”

“Right,” Cassie drawled skeptically. “Anyway, I was just headed to my room so… ”

Both boys scrambled to get out of her way as she walked past, winking at Kon when they drew level. “Use protection!” she called over her shoulder as she rounded the corner, leaving both boys beat red in her wake.

Eventually they got control over themselves and silently agreed to never mention that again.

“Video games?” Tim asked.

“Video games,” Kon agreed.

After looking through the game selection in the cave, Tim suggested they play guitar hero. Kon should have known better than to let Tim pick.

“Yeah sure, but it can be pretty tricky for a first time player,” Kon had said, like a fool.

Tim just smiled. “I think I can handle it.”

While Kon set up the game, Tim had changed back into his clothes from yesterday, finally taking off that cursed suit.

They’d started selecting characters and when Tim chose expert, Kon should have known he was screwed.

“Are you sure you want to play on expert, it’s pretty hard.”

“I have fast reflexes.”

Kon even let him pick the song because he thought Tim was at a disadvantage! Then Tim had gone and picked The Devil Went Down To Georgia and Kon had gotten a little worried, but he hadn’t been prepared.

When they got all the way through the intro and Tim hadn’t missed a note Kon was shocked, when Tim started singing, Kon thought he might spontaneously combust.

“ _The devil went down to Georgia_

_He was lookin' for a soul to steal_

_He was in a bind_

_'Cause he was way behind_

_And he was willin' to make a deal_ ”

“How are you so good at this?” Kon asked when they got to a guitar solo and Tim stopped singing.

Tim shrugged. “Back when I was following Batman and Robin and Cat kind of took me under her wing- pun totally intended-, she was worried I wasn’t getting enough social interaction so she took me to this arcade in hopes I’d mingle a little. I got kind of attached to this game because I’ve always really loved music, but mother would never approve of me learning to actually play songs like these. I haven’t played in a while, but those are some of my favorite memories. I even drew up some plans for a computer system that used one of the guitars instead of a keyboard and mouse, but I never got around to building it.”

There was a lot of information for Kon to digest there. Who was Cat? Tim liked music? Was he implying he knew how to play an instrument and just wasn’t allowed to play fun music? Or that he wasn’t allowed to learn an instrument at all? At least it meant Tim did do things for fun sometimes.

By the time they’d finished the first guitar solo, Cassie had wondered out of her room following the noise and had started recording them.

Maybe he hadn’t noticed, or more likely he just didn’t care, because Tim kept on singing.

“ _When the devil finished_

_Johnny said, ‘Well, you're pretty good, old son_

_But sit down in that chair right there_

_And let me show you how it's done’_ ”

Kon was tempted to stop playing all together so he could just watch Tim. He was really getting into it.

This time both Cassie and Kon joined in on the chorus,

“ _He played Fire on the Mountain run boys, run_

_The devil's in the House of the Rising Sun_

_Chicken in a bread pan pickin' out dough_

_Granny, does your dog bite? No child, no_ ”

Cassie was covering her mouth with her hand now to stop from laughing and Kon had in fact given up in favor of watching Tim’s fingers fly across the keys.

“ _The devil bowed his head_

_Because he knew that he’d been beat_

_And he laid that golden fiddle_

_On the ground at Johnny’s feet_

 

_Johnny said, ‘Devil, just come on back_

_If you ever want to try again_

_I done told you once you son of a bitch_

_I’m the best that’s ever been’_ ”

They finished the chorus together, ending in Cassie and Kon finally cracking up as Tim finished the song on his guitar.

“That was fun,” Tim said, pushing his bangs out of his face. Kon wasn’t sure he’d ever seen Tim smile that big for that long.

Guitar hero. Noted.

“Gods I wish I could post this on the internet,” Cassie said, rewatching the video she’d taken on her phone. She sighed dramatically. “I guess I’ll just have to settle for showing everyone on the team.”

Winking at Tim, she skipped off to do whatever it was she was planning on doing with the video.

“Should we be worried?” Kon asked.

“Nah. Cat and B are getting all lovey dovey again, so it’s only a matter of time before everyone finds out anyway. Actually, I should probably call her some time.” Tim hummed contemplatively caught up in his own world, but even as he considered catching up with an old mentor, his happiness seemed to be slipping again as if it were as temporary as the song.

“Is something wrong?”

Tim bit his lip. “I was just thinking about the Bats and-”

He was cut off by his phone suddenly blasting Beyonce. Eyes widening, Tim seemed frozen in place.

After several seconds of Tim being totally petrified while Beyonce asked ‘Who run the world?’ (the answer was obviously girls), Kon cleared his throat. “So you’re not even going to check who it is?”

“It’s Oracle,” Tim responded still frozen. In response to Kon’s silent question, he added, “I have different ringtones for everyone.”

The song finally stopped playing only to immediately start again.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you deliberately not pick up your phone,” Kon stated, taking off his guitar and trying to figure out why Tim wouldn’t want to talk to Oracle after being kidnapped and vanishing on them. Really he’d been surprised Tim hadn’t called _her_ to tell her he was alright.

In a series of jerky mechanical movements that completely lacked all his usual grace, Tim pulled his phone out of his pocket and turned it off. Returning it to his pocket, he looked at Kon. “I’ve never had a reason not to before.”

“And you do now?”

“They didn’t come, Kon,” Tim’s voice sounded strangled, as if anger and distress were pulling it in two different directions.

“What do you mean?”

“That panic button sent all of the Bats messages. Not one of them came and they’re only trying to contact me now. Sure, they’re busy, but that’s basically Oracle’s job; recieve things like my distress call, and do something about it or send someone to do something about it. They abandoned me Kon. I could be dead and they would probably be relieved.” The longer he spoke, the more Tim seemed to lean towards anger.

He yanked off his guitar and put it down with more force than necessary. In the process, his hair fell in his face, obscuring it from Kon’s vision and when he spoke, his voice was so quiet, Kon wasn’t sure he would have heard it without super hearing. “How the hell am I supposed to face them after that?”

“Tim-”

“No really. I’m curious,” Tim said looking up again. “How am I supposed to sit through team meetings knowing for absolute certain Dick, my self proclaimed _brother_ , would be happy to see me die.” He spat the word _brother_ like it was poison in his mouth. “Of course I don’t blame them and I always suspected, but it’s different to _know_.”

Rage welled in Kon’s veins. Why hadn’t they been there?! But he stamped it out. Tim was emotional right now, which was more unnerving than anything else. He needed Kon to think rationally. To be his rock.

“Is it possible they didn’t get the message or were stopped from acting on it?” he asked calmly, trying to think through the problem from a place of detachment.

“I- I don’t know.”

“They wouldn’t do that to you,” Kon said softly. “They wouldn’t just leave you. Something else is wrong.”

Tim finally met Kon’s gaze. He looked wrecked. His brow was drawn together like he was in actual pain and his eyes screamed ‘kicked puppy’. Kon realized that Tim had probably shown more emotion in the last ten minutes than in the month before that.

“But what if it’s not? That’s why my panic button contacted you too. Cause I was worried one day I’d press it and exactly this would happen.” Kon’s stomach plummeted. That’s how real this fear was for Tim.

He wasn’t sure how to feel about only being called because Tim was worried the Bats wouldn’t come, but honestly it was the least of his concerns right now. At the top of the list was, why hadn’t the Bats come for Tim?

Next was why had Tim known they wouldn’t come.

The computer in the cave started ringing with a video call. “Tim, let me answer that. I can talk to them and figure out what went wrong.”

Tim’s eyes widened in fear, but after a moment, he nodded.

“Is it okay if I tell them you’re here?”

Tim thought it over. “If necessary.”

“Okay, I’ll be right back.” Kon turned and went to answer the video call.

A frantic Babs popped up on screen. “Kon! Is Tim there with you? He disappeared while we were fighting and we just found his bike by the docks. His comm is destroyed and his phone is turned off.”

Kon was pretty damn convinced. Babs seemed _really_ worried. “And you haven’t received any distress calls or messages from him?”

“That’s just it.” Babs bit her lip. “As soon as he was in danger, even if he couldn’t talk to us on the comms, Tim should have hit his panic button and we should have gotten a message with his location. Instead he’s just gone without a trace.”

“That’s what I thought,” Kon muttered turning to look at the corner he was pretty sure Tim would be hiding behind. “They never got your message,” he called to him.

Tim slinked out from behind the corner. “And now I feel like an overdramatic idiot.”

“Tim!” Oracle exclaimed.

“Hi,” He stepped into her line of vision, rubbing the back of his neck. “So, funny story.”

Oracle pressed her lips into a fine line. “How about I patch your audio into the comms and you tell everyone?”

Tim nodded reluctantly and waited until Oracle was done and had briefly explained the situation to begin his story. “So basically, the League of Assassins was behind the gang wars today and Ra’s was waiting for me at the docks. I bargained for him to stop the fighting if I went with him, so I got on his ship and played chess with him, headed who knows where for God knows why, but I managed to hit my panic button, and Kon showed up to fly me here, to Mount Justice, but none of you responded. That’s why I didn’t send you a message or anything, I assumed you guys ignored my distress call but now I guess you just didn’t get it for some reason.”

“... ”

“ _ **Damn,** replacement._ ”

“ _Language!_ ”

“ _Why would grandfather want **Drake**?_ ”

“ _It makes sense that Ra’s was behind this. The attacks were too coordinated._ ”

“ _Why didn’t we get your distress call?_ ”

“ _So that’s why all the fighters just stopped._ ”

“ _Did Ra’s say what he wanted with you?_ ”

“ _Are you okay?_ ”

“ _Wait you were just planning on letting yourself get abducted and possibly killed?!_ ”

Tim flinched away from the outburst of responses. Waiting for them to die down before he even tried to respond.

“Um… yes,” Tim answered tentatively.

Then someone burst out laughing. Kon couldn’t identify who it was, but Tim’s lips twitched into something like a smile so maybe he knew.

“You’re fucking insane replacement. Ra’s Al Ghul? Really?” Jason kept laughing and slowly more people seemed to join in until there were at least a few people cracking up.

Tim smiled down at the key board, ducking reflexively to hide his face.

“We’re going to need a more specific report than that, but for now, relax at the cave. We’ll come get you when we’re done here,” Batman growled. If Kon were a braver man, he might have pointed out how relieved Gotham’s knight sounded.

Straightening, Tim said, “With all do respect, I can do more good in Gotham with you guys.”

“Nope,” Kon cut in. “You are not going back out tonight.”

Oracle startled, blinking at Kon in genuine surprise. If the silence was anything to go by, the rest of the Bats were probably having a similar reaction.

“Come onnn, I’m finnne,” Tim whined.

“No,” Kon said firmly. Leaning over Tim’s shoulder Kon spoke directly through the line. “I’m gonna keep Tim here until you guys come pick him up. Red Robin and Superboy out.” And he hung up.

“Did you… did you just hang up on the entire Batfam?”

Kon grunted. “They’ll thank me when you don’t get stabbed.”

“One time! That happened one time!”

Kon raised an eyebrow.

“Well… one time that _you_ know of.”

“Tim!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you ever get the chance you should look up The Devil Went Down to Georgia on guitar hero. It's mesmerizing. I would have linked it, but I couldn't figure out how to make that work.
> 
> Also, I really like the headcanon that Tim has different ringtones for everybody, and I also have at least my opinion of what each ringtone is so I’ll either make a tumblr post about it or fit it in here somehow somewhere, but I’ll definitely share my take on that sometime.
> 
> But in the meantime, if anyone wants to share their opinions on what Tim’s ringtone is for different people, be my guest, I’d love to hear it.


	13. Useful

“We need to talk.”

“What’s up, Supes? Wanna relive the glory days? Ask for my permission to court Tim? Gossip about Slade Wilson’s hair?” Dick asked, smiling brightly.

Kon pulled an unimpressed face. “At least part of me wanted to start this conversation by hitting you; don’t give me a reason to go back to that plan.”

“Aww,” Dick whined. “You wouldn’t punch this face, would you?”

Kon raised a single eyebrow at him.

“Fair.” Dick’s cocky grin faded a little. “What do you want to talk about?”

“Tim.”

***

Guitar hero with Kon had been fun. Chess with Ra’s had been… less fun.

But Tim didn’t have time to think about that because mother and father were coming home.

The housekeeper had come by hours ago to make sure the house was in perfect condition, but she was long gone by now. Tim was left alone, waiting for them to arrive.

He fidgeted with the bowtie on his suit for the hundredth time before remembering how much Jack hated it when he fidgeted.

_Dammit Timothy, you’re fidgeting is fucking annoying! It draws attention, cut it out._

_It shows weakness,_ Janet always added.

A shiver ran down his spine at the memory and he settled for instead double checking his preparations.

There was a bottle of champagne on ice with a glass beside it for Janet in the living room and a hard whiskey for Jack. There were horderves in the fridge he could get out if his parents wanted any, and every room in the house was spotless. The Red Robin costume was stowed away in a secret compartment at the back of Tim’s closet that doubled as a go bag and all his computers were locked with the ‘in case of muggles’ protocol.

 _The box_ was where it usually was, hidden beneath the Red Robin costume.

However ready he thought he was, the illusion was shattered when he heard his parents’ car pull into the driveway and his heart rate skyrocketed.

Tim’s emotions jumped all over the place, as he rushed to take his place by the door. He was excited to see his parents and learn what they’d accomplished on their trip, maybe even earn a hug, but he also knew these first few minutes would be crucial in setting the tone for the rest of their visit.

He reminded himself that it was just his parents and he didn’t actually have anything to worry about, so long as he didn’t screw up.

From his place next to the door, he was able to look through the window see Janet, looking pristine as ever as the driver offered her his hand and helped her out of the car. She was wearing one of her more comfortable thousand dollar pantsuits today with a long fur coat over it. Her dark hair was piled on her head in heavy coils, and even after such a long flight, not a strand was out of place.

Jack came around the car to offer his wife an arm. He looked angry. Why did he look angry. Tim tried to remember the numbers he’d checked in preparation, but they were already slipping away.

He was pretty sure DI’s stocks were up and he knew there weren’t any business deals currently going south (thanks to his client from two weeks ago) but his parents trips were confidential and he would _never_ intrude on their privacy. Something must have happened in Egypt. Or maybe Jack was just drunk

As his parents approached the front door, Tim pulled himself together and opened it for them, stepping to the side so he was out of the way.

His parents swept into the house with the presence of an expensive elephant and the smell of a personal bar. Drunk, then.

“Timothy, darling, I hope you’ve been taking care of things,” Janet said in lieu of a greeting.

Jack scoffed. “Of course he’s been taking care of things, he’s _my_ son.” Tim got the feeling that was alluding to an argument they’d already had. Or were having.

Janet seethed, throwing an icy glare at her husband that was enough to bring most men to their knees, as she shrugged off her expensive coat and threw it at Tim. Jack likewise gave Tim his suit jacket.

With both jackets, he walked to the closet to put them away as Janet and Jack headed towards the living room.

By the time Tim joined them, they had already begun talking about how the international protection laws were starting to intrude on their work as _archeologists_ and tariffs were going to kill DI if the new laws got passed.

As they talked, Jack’s speech slurred more and more and he poured himself a _generous_ amount of whiskey. He was definitely drunk.

Tim stood at attention on the very edge of the carpet, not saying a word. Of course _destroy_ seemed like an exaggeration to him. If they simply focused more on their American consumers and factories they could easily keep the same profit by changing their marketing angle. As for the international protection laws, they _were_ stealing artifacts from their homes for profit.

But a child should be seen and not heard so he kept his mouth shut.

After a few moments of this, Janet turned to him. “Timothy, why don’t you sit down and talk to your poor parents. We never speak anymore.”

Tim blinked in shock, a smile stretching across his face in elation. He quickly took a seat across from his parents. “We have nearly enough influence in congress to stop the tariff laws from being passed if we teamed up with a few other major corporations,” he offered.

Janet waved a hand airily as if to brush away his words. “I know that already, and children have no place talking about such things. I want to hear about you. How have you been doing?”

The feeling of elation that had been growing in Tim’s chest swelled three times over. “I’ve been well. School won’t begin again for another month, but I’ve already received advanced copies of the syllabus from all my teachers and I’ve started on my homework for the year.”

“So I take it you are more than prepared for your senior year of highschool?” Tim nodded. “And have you been looking into colleges?”

“I have been working on my applications yes.” Tim hesitated as he considered how to precede. “My grades are more than impeccable, my classes are all advanced, and my test scores are nearly perfect-”

“Nearly?” Janet asked innocently.

Tim could feel his palms starting to sweat, but it still didn’t ruin the delight of his mother taking an interest in him. “Better than anyone else in my grade.”

Jack nodded. “That’s my boy. Crush those other bastard wenches.” His _th_ sounds came out more like _duh_ sounds; a sure sign he would wouldn’t remember any of this tomorrow.

Tim smiled at his father. “My internship at DI should make up for the lack of extracurriculars, but I do worry about not having any community service hours.”

Janet’s nose wrinkled in disgust. “My son? Going near those filthy street rats? I don’t think so. Your last name will make up for community service hours.”

Seemingly satisfied with her son’s future prospects, Janet shifted gears. “Timothy, do you miss us when we aren’t here?”

Alarm bells rang in every corner of Tim’s head, but he kept his cool. “Of course.”

Humming Janet took another sip of her champagne. “Allow me to rephrase, do you miss _us_ or do you miss _me_?”

“I’m not sure I understand the question.”

“What your mother is trying to ask,” Jack cut in, “is if you miss me or her more when we leave on trips like these.”

Tim could feel true unbridled panic starting to climb in his throat, so he focused on ‘turning off his emotions’, a defense mechanism he’d developed around Janet when he’d realized any flicker of deeper feelings could be seen as a sign of weakness. “I couldn’t possibly choose.”

“We’re asking you to,” Janet’s voice cut like ice, tinged with danger now.

So he had to answer. Well, he’d rather be on Jack’s bad side than Janet’s, even if he was drunk and the consequences would be immediate. “I do miss mother greatly.”

Janet smiled smugly, but didn’t lift a finger when Jack surged forward and attacked his son. “You ungrateful bastard! I’m your _father._ ” As his fists landed, Tim reminded himself this was his fault for choosing and it was better than the things Janet could do to him. Besides, his father was drunk, he wasn’t in control. He’d never hurt Tim when he was sober.

“You should have died in those gang wars,” Jack growled. “At least your death would have been _useful._ ”

***

“No.”

Kon watched Dick shake his head, backing away from him until he found a chair with his hand and sat in it blindly.

“It can’t be true. We would know. _I_ would know,” he pressed. “Tim isn’t- you’ve got it all wrong.”

Kon could get why it was hard for Dick to accept that Tim might be suffering abuse, but it was still frustrating.

“Dick, I need you to think like a Bat for a second and not a brother. This might not be enough evidence for you, but for Tim’s sake, you need to look into this,” Kon said as calmly as he could.

“No you don’t get it, I’ve known Tim for years. Are his parents a little distant? Sure. But they aren’t abusive. That would mean… I let him get… for years Connor! He would have lied through his teeth to hide something like that from me. He would have been lying to _Batman!_ ” Dick was spiralling.

Kon still wasn’t totally sure if he was going to pull himself together or fall into denial so he kept trying. “Tim _needs_ you Dick.”

“My little brother knows what abuse looks like, and he would have come to me,” Dick said standing up and walking out.

“Dick!” Kon called after him, but he made it to the zeta tube before Kon could think to do anything else.

“Well that went well,” Bart said, suddenly appearing at Kon’s side.

Kon frowned as Cassie and Jaime walked in at normal speed. “And where the hell were all of you? Could have used some assistance.”

Shrugging Cassie replied for the three of them. “You know Dick better than any of us and he was looking kind of overwhelmed with just you so we thought we’d let you work your magic.”

“My… magic?”

“Yeah, it didn’t work out for us,” Bart said.

“No kidding.”

Jaime frowned, shaking his head. “I don’t get it. Why is Dick so certain Tim’s fine when he’s obviously not?”

Kon sighed. “Dick’s been through a lot in the past few years. Everyone he’s close to has gone through some shit or even… well, Wally, Bruce, _and_ Jason. Tim’s always been a sort of rock for Dick. The one person who was _always_ fine, always supporting him, even after Dick more or less kicked him to the curb.”

“Dick’s going to blame himself for this,” Cassie continued.

“And that’s just going to hurt Tim even more,” Kon finished.

Silence stretched between the four heroes as they all stared at the zeta tube.

“Well, Nightwing’s midlife crisis isn’t the only reason we’re here,” Bart said at last. “We have a mission.”

***

He should have known something was wrong when Deathstroke showed up.

He should have known better than to chase after the assassin alone.

He should have seen the kryptonite before it was buried in his shoulder.

He should have called for help before he lost consciousness.

He should have told Tim goodbye before he went on the mission.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the short chapter, but I couldn’t resist the cliff hanger.
> 
> So I should probably explain a lot of things. Like, for example, wtf is this timeline? Answer: ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ but basically in my version Batman still briefly died and Dick took over the mantle, replacing Tim with Damian as Robin, but in my version they got Bruce back a lot quicker I guess and the team resumed more or less normally. I’m going to get into the parts of that that are relevant to the story in later chapters but for now, I’m kinda ignoring it.
> 
> But it's cool cause time is an illusion. (Which is also why I have no update schedule to speak of :)!! )


	14. Scream

“Did I do that?”

Tim nodded silently.

“Jesus kid, you need to stop pissing me off when I’m drunk,” Jack said going back to his morning coffee and cereal.

After weighing his options, Tim decided that didn’t need a response and instead went for the coffee. For ‘uncontrollably drunk’ Jack had done a pretty good job of only hitting Tim where the bruises could be hidden. He’d only missed once, giving Tim a bit of a black eye, but Tim knew from experience he could cover that with makeup if he needed to.

“You’re going to have to cover that up.” Some days Tim was pretty certain Janet was secretly a meta who could read his mind. “We’re going out today.”

Tim sat down at the table. “Out?” he echoed questioningly.

“Yes. We need to be seen as a family in the wake of the gang wars that took place a few days ago- I’m sure even you were aware of them?”

Right. Because to his parents, Tim had been safe in the mansion, untouched by Ra’s bid for attention.

“Of course mother.”

“We’ll be going to that italian restaurant Mr. Aldridge is so fond of for dinner.” 

Tim knew Aldridge _very_ well. He’d been one of Tim’s earliest clients, and was currently the president of an international shipping business. He had his hands elbow deep in all kinds of illegal business, but nothing Tim could prove without jeopardizing his secret identity.

Before he was Robin, when he was Seina’s… something, Tim had gotten in a few good hits at the man, so to speak, but it nothing that would stick.

“You are to look presentable and to keep quiet while we give a statement unless you are spoken directly to, understood?” Janet instructed without even bothering to look up.

Tim didn’t know why she bothered. He knew the rules. They hadn’t exactly changed at any point in the last seventeen years. “Understood.”

“After we’ve been seen with you in public and given a statement to the press, we’ll be leaving again.” Janet continued, “We were forced to come home when we heard about what happened, but a new opportunity just arose in Tokyo and we need to be there before anybody realizes and tries to take it from us.”

“Of course mother, I completely understand,” Tim replied monotonously.

“And for everything to go well with Tokyo, we’ll likely need you to pull your weight.”

“What can I do to help?” Tim asked eagerly.

“Nothing for sure, but there is a chance you’ll have another client by the end of the month, so you should brush up on your Japanese.”

Tim’s stomach plummeted. “Of course, mother.”

He understood why he had to take on clients, it was the easiest way to get extra leverage in business deals and the only way he could be useful, but it was still unpleasant. Not that he’d ever tell his mother no.

As soon as he thought he could get away with it, Tim excused himself to go try and get some work down before dinner.

He wondered how Kon was doing. He could call him of course, but why? There wasn’t a good reason and he’d been raised with manners which meant not disturbing someone without a reason. Unless you were better than them. Then it was fine.

But Tim wasn’t really ‘better’ than anyone, so generally he just avoided getting in the way without valid cause.

Besides, he would see Kon soon anyway since his parents were leaving again.

He’d told Dick he’d need a few days off while his parents were in town, but Dick probably wouldn’t think twice about the sudden turn around. In fact, he had probably already forgotten about Tim, seeing as he’d made it clear nearly two monthes ago that Tim wasn’t his responsibility.

Tim shut his eyes against the onslought of memories from that day. The only one that managed to break through his mental wall, was Damian, standing in his new Robin uniform, taunting Tim and saying they needed to update the security measures in the cave to keep the riffraff out.

What was important, was that Dick didn’t care; which in this case meant he probably didn’t want to know what Tim was doing unless it was mission relevant or he needed someone to vent to.

Tim shook his head. He’d thought he was over Dick taking Robin away from him and basically shattering his- nope. Not thinking about that, not going down that path. It was in the past. He was Red Robin now, and the demon brat was had taken his place.

The point was, his parents wouldn’t be around for long and when they left he could go back to business as usual.

He wondered why that thought relieved him almost as much as it made him feel bitter.

***

When Kon woke up, his shoulder burned like a whole barn full of ranch hands had shoved their branding irons through it.

He involuntarily hissed in pain, choking back a very unprofessional cry.

Where was he? How did he get there? The last thing he remembered was… 

Slade.

Kon peeled his eyes open, trying to ignore the way that the small action was harder than lifting a truck.

Looking around, he saw the dimly lit interior… of a food truck? No, too big and too empty to be a food truck, a semi.

The cramped space was lit by a ring of kryptonite taped- literally taped with scotch tape- to the wall across from Kon. No wonder his shoulder still hurt.

Speaking of his shoulder, Kon tried to touch it, but heard chains rattle when he tried to move the hands he still didn’t have feeling in.

Continuing his inspection of the space past the kryptonite, he noticed a bolted down table that seemed to be covered in various tools that belonged anywhere from a dentist’s office to a auto repair shop. Lovely. Next to the table was a dark case that Kon couldn’t even begin to guess the contents of.

The whole room suddenly jolted, clueing Kon in on the fact that the truck was in fact moving.

So he was chained up in the back of a moving semi truck with a piece of Kryptonite and a lot of sharp objects, that Slade sure as hell wasn’t going to use to make him an omlet, as well as a an ominous case.

Well at least Slade had been nice enough to put the kryptonite as far away from him as possible and at least he was sitting. He just might of puked if his chains had held him in a standing position.

If he got out of this, he was really going to have to ask Tim for one of those panic buttons.

***

Dinner was a terrible meal.

Why did people even eat it?

Like, breakfast has a purpose, it goes with coffee. Lunch had a purpose, it gives you a break from the school day. Dinner is just… there. It’s useless and it gets in the way of more important things.

Or maybe Tim was just biased.

He’d spent over an hour in the bathroom getting ready to go out. After he’d managed to cover up his black eye, he’d decided he might as well go the whole nine yards and put on a full face of natural makeup too.

Once he was done, his skin actually had color and he _almost_ looked like a human being who got more than three hours of sleep a night. Improvement.

By the time he’d put on his tux and laced up his shoes, it was time to go. He met his parents down stairs.

“Timothy, your make up skills are improving,” Janet praised, her nails digging into his skin as she grabbed his chin, tilting his head this way and that to see how it looked at different angles and under different lighting.

Tim preened under the praise. “Thank you mother. You look gorgeous.”

Janet’s lips twitched in recognition of the compliment. “Of course I do.”

“I’m ready, let’s go,” Jack said, walking into the entryway.

Tutting softly, Janet fixed his bowtie with a slight frown of disapproval and looked them all over one more time before allowing them to leave.

The car ride over felt far too short, or maybe that was just because Tim had spaced out.

As soon as Tim climbed out of the car, he was bombarded with flashing cameras and reporters yelling questions. The pandemonium was so complete, Tim couldn’t actually understand any of the questions, he just smiled and waved.

Once his mother and father were by his side, they walked as a family through the parted crowd up the steps of the restaurant and turned around to address the crowd.

Janet held up one hand and immediately everyone fell silent, only the occasional camera click could be heard. “I’m sure you’re all wondering what we have to say about the recent gang wars in Gotham.” The camera clicks increased, but her audience remained silent.

“Well, we are horrified. Our very own son Timothy was here in Gotham when it happened and we rushed home as quickly as we could to get to him. This kind of violence should not and cannot be tolerated in our city.” Her voice was laced with anger and fear and certainty, emotion coursing through her words with a desire to protect her son.

“The police department has been powerless to take any big actions against this sort of organized crime, and has been reduced to relying on _vigilantes_ to do any real work.” She spit the word like it was dirt in her mouth. “It is despicable. Which is why Drake Industries will be making a sizeable donation to the police department.”

The reporters surged with questions, but quieted again when Janet continued speaking. “In the meantime, the best we can do is hold our loved ones close,” she pulled Timothy to her side in a one armed hug while Jack put his arm around her, “and pray that Gotham can improve.”

As the pandemonium began to rise again, this time refusing to be quelled, Janet raised her voice to conclude, “Thank you all, but we need to spend some time as a family.”

The Drake’s turned their backs on the press as one and strolled into the restaurant.

For someone who sneered at and looked down on performers, Janet Drake was a pretty damn good one.

***

The truck had stopped. Why had they stopped?

Had they finally got where they were going? Had they run out of gas? Was Kon about to be tortured?

He’d been slipping in and out of consciousness for the last hour and he wasn’t even 100% sure if he was awake right now.

The kryptonite was really doing a number on him.

So was the hole in his shoulder, but now that he’d been able to think about it for awhile and regained some feeling, he was pretty sure Slade had stitched that up for him.

How nice of him to not let Kon bleed out before he could be tortured.

_Focus._

He wasn’t going to be able to attempt any sort of an escape as long as that kryptonite ring was there. How had Slade even gotten kryptonite? Wasn’t it supposed to be rare?

Then again, in Kon’s actual experience, kryptonite was as common as oxygen to villains trying to face a super. The damn stuff seemed to be everywhere when it was the only thing that could hurt you.

What would Tim do?

Escape probably.

But Kon couldn’t see how that was possible. He was chained up next to kryptonite, he was basically useless. Maybe- _maybe_ if he could buy enough time to get his strength back he could break the chains, even with the kryptonite there, but what were the odds Slade would give him that kind of time?

It was looking like Kon would just have to wait and hope an opportunity arose.

Cause he was such a _patient_ person.

Of course there was always the chance of rescue, but how would the team even figure out where he was when _he_ didn’t know where he was? Tim was good, but how could he possibly be _that_ good?

Kon didn’t have enough brain power available to question why ‘rescue’ had autimatically meant Tim.

And why had Slade even wanted him in the first place?!

Deathstroke was dangerous, and possibly good enough that he could have gotten all four of them if he’d tried, so why _just_ Kon?

Sure, he was the highest ranking member of the heroes there, but the more the merrier right? Don’t get him wrong, Kon was happy no one else was kidnapped, he just wished he knew why.

And did that mean Slade was planning on torturing him for information about the league? What could Slade possibly want to know?

Then Kon remembered Slade was a mercenary. The chances he’d kidnapped Kon on his own were low. In fact, he was probably taking Kon to his employer now.

It was probably Lex.

They were Light buddies after all, and Lex did hate Superman. Even if he hadn’t exactly targeted Kon so far.

At least not like this. Not in the kryptonite-bullet-through-your-shoulder-and-kidnapping kind of way.

The door to the truck suddenly rattled open. He got a glimpse of dark blue sky that momentarily threw him off before Slade had slipped in and the door was again closed.

“Slade,” Kon growled.

“Clone,” the assassin returned, flicking on lights that Kon hadn’t noticed earlier.

Slade pulled out the ominous case and started opening it. “I have to say, I’m a little surprised you’re awake. I’d thought the pain would keep you down longer.”

“I’m a light sleeper.” Not true, but sometimes the truth had to be sacrificed for good banter.

“That will definitely make this more fun. I was worried you would pass out on me when the pain got too intense.”

Kon finally got a look at what was in the case as Slade started setting it up. It was a camera.

Slade went on blandly as if he were discussing clothing choice. “My demands will be so much more compelling if your friends can hear you scream.” 

***

Dinner had been more or less uneventful.

It wasn’t like that time someone had bumped into Jack or the even worse time that a waiter had gotten red wine on Janet’s dress, so Tim was grateful for that.

But it had been exhausting all the same and Tim escaped to his bedroom as soon as they were home.

Mother and father had dropped him off at the house and switched cars to go to the airport, so he was alone again.

Maybe he could take a cat nap and then go back to Mount Justice?

He haphazardly stripped out of his tux, folding the pieces of clothing lazily as he did so.

A little computer work first couldn’t hurt, right?

Tim slipped into his desk chair, typing in all the correct passwords and even doing a few bioscans to unlock the ‘in case of muggles’ protocol and access the league database.

He scrolled through everything he’d missed in the past twenty four hours, checking on the Bats first then the rest of the League, then the team-

What?

Tim stared at the missing report again.

That was weird. Why was it classified? It had the mission and the heroes sent to complete it- Superboy, Wonder Girl, Blue Beetle, and Kid Flash- but the mission report was locked to the Red Robin login.

Checking the timestamp, he saw that the mission had gone down last night and should have been completed by now, so why would the report be classified?

Tim almost jumped out of his skin when _Flawless_ started blaring from his phone.

He picked it up without looking. “What’s up?”

“Are you alone?” Cassie’s voice was strained and immediately set Tim on edge.

“Yeah, why?”

“Kon went missing and we just got the ransom video.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is shortish and maybe a little bit filler, but believe me it is _very_ necessary.


	15. Things you can't unsee

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Be aware, there is some descriptive violence in this chapter. It’s not a lot, but you have been warned.

Tim barely even remembered to throw on a mask before he was swinging to the cave and beaming to Mount Justice.

“ _Show me._ ”

He noted that several people actually recoiled away from him.

“Stay calm Red Robin, we don’t actually know much,” Nightwing soothed.

Tim glared at him. “And when were you planning on telling me?”

Nightwing winced, confirming to Tim that he’d been the one to classify the report. He looked around for support, but no one made a move to help him, making Tim wonder if the others had wanted to contact him right away. 

Realizing he was on his own, Nightwing tried to defend himself. “You were with your family, and you don’t get breaks all that often so I just thought-”

“You thought wrong,” Tim interrupted. “I should have heard this from you 24 hours ago. Not now from Cassie.”

Nightwing looked pained. “There’s nothing we could have done! Deathstroke didn’t exactly leave any evidence.”

“There’s nothing _you_ could have done,” the younger boy answered coldly. “Now show me the goddamn video so I can save my friend.”

Nightwing hesitated, wanting to defend his actions, but something in Tim’s eyes stopped him and instead he just nodded. “Slade sent us this video twenty minutes ago. It’s… disturbing, so-“

“ _Play the video,_ ” Tim ordered, his calm holding more danger than any amount of yelling could have.

Gulping, Nightwing pulled up the video on the computer and hit play. Everyone in the room seemed to suddenly find somewhere else to be, leaving only Cassie, Bart, Jaime, Tim, and Dick.

The world seemed to fall away when Tim saw Kon. He was sitting with his legs stretched in front of him and his arms shackled above him. Even through the video, Tim could tell his breathing was labored, made even more obvious by the bandaging wrapped around his chest and arm, clearly meant to cover his shoulder. 

At the sight of the camera Kon lifted his head. “What the hell Slade? What kind of sick game is this?”

Slade chuckled, but remained off screen. “Aren’t you going to say hello to your friends?”

Kon’s brow furrowed in confusion as he looked directly into the camera. “Don’t. Whatever he says, just don’t fucking do it.”

“Ah ah ah,” Slade tutted, stepping into frame to stick a ball of cloth in Kon’s mouth. “No one wants to hear you talk. You’re just hear to scream until your friends see _red._ ”

With that done, Slade turned to face the camera. “I’m sure you’re wondering why I’ve sent you this message, so I’ll get to the point. It’s a courtesy.”

Tim narrowed his eyes, glaring at the screen and biting back his anger to make sure he caught what Slade said next. 

“I’m giving you the rather _generous_ opportunity to pay me more than the thousands of people who will be tuning into a live stream to see me torturing the cloneboy. If you can provide sufficient funds before I start in twenty four hours, I’ll let him go, and _maybe_ he recovers from the kryptonite I put through his shoulder. If not, I take requests from a worldwide audience on how best to make him feel pain until he can’t feel anymore.” Slade smiled cruelly. “My favorite kinds of requests are questions. For each time he sings like a birdie, I’ll give him a break. Imagine the kind of _juicy_ secrets we can learn from him.”

Tim wasn’t even sure if that was possible, even if the Justice League dealt with terrorists. The combined efforts of all Superman’s enemies could put together a sum in the millions, probably more.

“And don’t say I’m being unreasonable, because I know that between certain members of your girl scout troup you could more than afford it.” Tim stiffened. Between Oliver, Bruce, and Tim, getting the money through private means probably wouldn’t be that much of an issue, but Slade shouldn’t know that.

“Just in case you plan on calling my bluff,” Slade continued, “I’ll give you a little pre show.”

He walked out of shot, Kon’s narrowed gaze following him closely. Tim’s gut twisted when his best friend’s eyes widened in horror. 

When Slade came back, he was wearing a kryptonite ring.

Kon glared a silent challenge at him, _do your worst._

Slade let loose on the half kryptonian, throwing punch after punch, but Kon refused to do more than grunt.

Behind Tim, Cassie covered her mouth in horror, tears gathering in her eyes. Bart buried his face in Jaime’s chest and refused to look.

Tim just stared at the screen. Rage simmering in his stomach, boiling higher and louder until it was a dull roar in his ears. 

Giving up on that angle of attack, Slade grabbed a knife and made a cut across Kon’s chest. Blood immediately welled, but Kon just bit down on the gag harder, refusing to scream.

Pride mingled with Tim’s anger. 

Deciding that it would take more than he could afford to do before the live stream started to make Kon scream, Slade sighed in disappointment. “You can hold out now if it makes you feel brave, but I won’t be holding back when the League abandons you.”

With that, Slade walked over, his face filling the entire frame and completely blocking Kon out. “I humbly await your decision,” he growled then he was gone and the video was over, the screen frozen on Kon’s bleeding body. 

Silence stretched through the room.

Tim’s head spun. Anger coursed through his veins, and he knew he wasn’t thinking rationally, but there was something about that video that bothered him. Something that had been off.

After several minutes, Dick couldn’t take the silence anymore. “Tim I know you’re probably distraught right now and I understand-”

“Shut. Up.” He wasn’t thinking rationally. He shouldn’t be talking like that to Dick, this wasn’t his fault, but it was _Kon_ and somehow that made all the difference in the world. ‘Knowing his place’ was the last thing on Tim’s mind.

He needed to go somewhere to cool down and, however painful it was, to watch that video again for clues.

“And you guys haven’t figured anything out from that video yet?” Tim asked, finally granting Dick permission to speak.

Wisely, Dick took the opportunity to choose his words very carefully. “No. We just got it. I already sent it to various league members, but a lot of our heavy hitters are still off world, including Superman.”

“Good thing this isn’t a problem we need punched then,” Tim answered curtly. There wasn’t anything more he could gain from here and Dick was only going to get in the way. But… the cave’s computer could be beneficial. No, it wasn’t worth it. It was too public.

Tim didn’t bother with goodbyes. He just turned around and swept out of the room, only pausing at the zeta tube to say, “Contact me with any updates and send me that video.”

He had work to do.

***

Figuring out what had been bothering him about the video didn’t take long at all. He’d thought Slade’s phrasing was weird.

The answer was as infuriating as it was unhelpful. Tim would have to deal with it later.

For now he needed to focus on finding Kon.

The video didn’t provide many clues, but by using Kon as a starting point, he figured out the width of the ‘room’ and it fit the schematics for a standard semi. It wasn’t much, but the way the light reflected suggested a small space and the coloring was right. Plus, Slade would see the advantages in having a mobile prison.

Which narrowed them down to… anywhere. Realistically, it would have to be driving distance from their mission near Phoenix, Arizona, but with a twenty four hour time gap, that didn’t narrow it down much either.

It would have to be somewhere more or less secluded though, so Tim was willing to bet they were in the desert. Also unhelpful. The League simply didn’t have the time to search the entire desert for Kon. He’d be dead by the time they found him.

Tracking the kryptonite was no good and all Kon’s equipment had been dumped at the abduction site. Slade was also too good to have told anyone- even his employer- where he took Kon so that was a dead end.

Now, if only Slade would just shoot up a flare. Or even better, just tell them his location. Like that would ever happen.

But then maybe it would… 

Tim thought back to the Red Hood mission. What he’d said to Kon, standing under the stars, when he just couldn’t bring himself to lie.

_Motivation. You just have to know what a person wants, what drives them. From there it’s pretty easy._

Slade wanted money. Tim could work with money. Money was an easy weakness to manipulate.

Greed would be his servant, and his lever.

But for the plan he had in mind to work he needed-

His train of thought not only wrecked, but went up in a rather impressive mushroom cloud when his phone started playing _Superheroes_ by The Script.

“What do you need?” he answered it, expecting Jamie to respond. 

He wasn’t too shocked to hear Bart’s voice instead, wavering with uncertainty. “ _So we know you’re probably busy finding Kon and all right now, but Cassie, Jaime, and I wanted you to know we’ve got your back. We want to help you save him. Just tell us the plan._ ”

“Funny you should call just now, cause I think I’ve got a plan and I’m going to need your help.” He could almost see the three heroes shocked expressions. “Meet me in Los Angeles where Kon disappeared in an hour. No costumes. We’re incognito for this one.”

***

The plan was crazy, relied on at least half guesswork, and was also incredibly simple.

“Slade’s a mercenary. His life revolves around money, and when it comes to protecting that money, he’s old school. He knows bank accounts can be hacked, so he has a private vault where he keeps the majority of his profits. If we were trying to steal from him, that would suck, but since we just need to tick him off enough to leave Kon alone, it works for us.”

Finding Slade’s vault had been the hardest part. It wasn’t exactly on any maps, and Slade was _almost_ as good at keeping a secret as Batman. Luckily for Kon, Tim had always been good at knowing what he shouldn’t.

It took a mix of tracking his movements and satellites to even get a guess, but Tim was pretty confident with his answer. Which was good, because the plan counted on that vault being hard to find, but not totally impenetrable.

“When the vault gets attacked, Slade will recognize the threat as a personal attack, and go to protect his money,” Tim paused to consider. “Or just to kill whoever found his treasure trove, but that’s not important.”

He smiled at the heroes evilly, before continuing, “Slade isn’t a meta, so he’ll need some form of transportation to get to his vault, and _that_ is something I can track. So when we threaten his money, and he does the tech-genius equivalent of sending up a flare, we’ll have an unguarded Superboy’s location. Easy as pie.”

Jaime frowned. “How do we know Slade won’t send someone else to defend the money?”

“He won’t,” Tim assured. “Slade doesn’t want _anyone_ to know about his vault. And he wouldn’t trust anyone else to defend it anyway. He’ll go himself.”

“What if he just takes Kon with him?” Cassie asked.

Tim shrugged. “That one is a possibility, but I doubt it. Kon’s shoulder is pretty screwed up, not to mention the wounds Slade gave him during the video. He isn’t exactly in travel condition. Plus, if Slade takes Superboy with him, he’ll have to bring the kryptonite too and outside the armoured vehicle, I can track that. So either way we’ll know where Superboy is.”

“Armoured vehicle?” Bart repeated.

“Yes. Going off the lighting and the dimensions of the room in the video, I’m reasonably sure it’s the back of a semi. Which would also make sense for mobility and how Slade got Kon somewhere protected and in the middle of nowhere so fast.”

“So what _exactly_ is our job?” Jaime asked.

“You three are going to go and attack Slade’s vault. You need to get through as many of his security measures as possible, trip every alarm, light the whole place on fire- do whatever it takes to convince Slade his money is in real danger, but you can’t get caught on camera. Slade needs to think this is a random attack, hence the no costumes. We _cannot_ be connected back to the League.”

“And what will you do?”

“I’m going to track the vehicle Slade calls for and take the bioship to pick Kon up while he’s gone.”

“That is… remarkably easy.” Bart blinked in surprise.

“For me.” Tim smirked. “You all have to fight whatever defenses a paranoid assassin set up for his treasure trove.”

Cassie rolled her eyes. “What Bart means to say, is you’re a tactical genius. But shouldn’t someone go with you in case he decides to go back?”

Tim paused to consider her suggestion. She wasn’t wrong… he probably wouldn’t be able to beat Slade in a one on one fight, and the possibility that he would come back for Kon was definitely real. “Okay,” Tim decided, “but if one of you comes with me, the other two will need to get out of there before Slade gets there. He will obliterate you if you’re still there.”

“Jaime will go with you,” Bart said immediately.

“What?” Jaime was caught totally off guard by his friend trying to ditch him. “I don’t think so, _hermano._ I’m going with you.”

“But it’s a stealth mission. We can’t be connected back to the league, and the Blue Beetle armour is pretty recognizable,” Bart reasoned. Tim had a feeling that had nothing to do with why Bart wanted Jaime a thousand miles away from the assassin’s vault, but he didn’t say anything.

“So? I won’t wear it. I’ve still got Scarab in my head, accessing every possible weakness. And I’m not totally useless without the armour.” His head listed to the side and his eyes glazed over as he listened to something Scarab was saying. “Hey! Not true,” he said, looking offended.

Bart didn’t look convinced. “I’ll have to run you out too, and-”

“I’ll go with Tim!” Cassie snapped. “Dear Hera, you’re both disaster gays.”

Bart blushed all the way to his hair, but Jaime was more well versed in the internet and just shrugged. “I see myself as more of a functional bi but I can see where you’re coming from.”

Cassie scrunched up her nose. “Are you sure? _Roy_ is a functional bi. _You_ are far more disaster oriented. All of the newbies are. Except for me, I’m obviously a distinguished lesbian.”

“I thought Roy was straight?” Bart asked, totally lost, but starting to get the gist of it.

Tim shook his head. “Not with the way he used to look at my brother’s ass he’s not.”

“Come to think of it, Tim might be the only other exception to the newbies rule. He’s a functional gay _at least._ ” Cassie said thoughtfully.

“I’m actually really touched by that.”

“Then what’s Kon?” Bart asked, trying to remember all the terms they were using so he could look it up later. Or just ask Jaime.

“Straight,” Tim explained.

“Disaster gay,” Cassie replied

“Functional bi,” Jamie said.

Bart looked between the three of them so fast his eyes started to blur. “Wait what?”

“Kon’s like, the straightest dude I’ve ever met,” Tim said. “Although considering most of the people I know are Bats, that’s not saying much.”

Cassie looked constipated. “He’s really not.”

“But he’s also not a disaster gay, cause he dated Miss Martian, so he’s attracted to girls too right?”

“We got really off topic,” Tim said, changing the subject back to the task at hand. “I’ll send you two the coordinates of the vault.”

The heroes nodded.

“Then get going. Cassie and I need to go get the bioship and start monitoring a lot of signals flying around the desert.” Tim looked at the team one last time. “For Kon,” he said.

All three heroes responded, “For Kon.”

As Tim turned around to leave he thought he heard Bart mumble, “Good luck,” but he didn’t turn around.

Tim stared at the zeta tube. Usually he would have slipped into the Red Robin persona like a second skin by now and his mind would be a little quieter. But for some reason he couldn’t stop thinking.

His whole body was buzzing with nervous energy and every couple of seconds his focus would flit to the picture of Kon bleeding out in the back of a semi with Slade fricken Wilson holding the knife. He knew his plan was good, but there were still so many things that could go wrong.

What if his plan got Kon killed? He wouldn’t be able to live with himself.

Cassie placed a hand on his arm, effectively quieting his thoughts. “Kon’s going to be alright.”

Tim nodded, wishing it were easier for him to believe her, and stepped through the zeta.

If his guess was right, he knew where Slade’s transportation would be coming from and he happened to already know how to track that from his wrist computer, but if he was wrong he needed a back up.

The first thing he noticed when he got to the cave was Nightwing.

Anger burned in Tim’s gut. Unjustified? Maybe. But Dick had tried to hide this from him. He’d intentionally put the file above Tim’s clearance, and he’d succeeded for 24 hours in not telling Tim his best friend was missing.

Controlling his breathing, Tim strode forward. He just needed to use the computer.

“Timbo!” Nightwing exclaimed, clearly relieved to see him.

“Not now.”

Nightwing flinched away from him, as Cassie drew closer to stand behind him protectively, glaring at Dick. So everyone _hadn’t_ agreed in hiding it from him. It was good to know where loyalties lay.

Tim pulled up the programs necessary to watch out for any other foreign vehicles in the desert. It wouldn’t exactly be reliable. Too many variables, too big a space.

But it would be there as a backup anyway.

“What are you doing?” Dick asked, staring at the screen. “What are you going to do with that program? And what are you wearing?”

Tim decided not to answer the question about his dark clothes that were very obviously not the Red Robin costume, or the one about the tracking program. “I’m going to save my friend. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to use the bioship.”

“You have a plan?” Dick asked, brightening. “How can I help?”

Tim leveled a glare at him. “You can’t. The League doesn’t deal with terrorists. This is just four people helping out their friend. If Slade starts a war over this, it will be with me. The others understand the risks as well. _You_ can stay out of it.”

Dick winced. “Tim I’m sorry about not telling you, but I can help!”

“ _No_ , Dick. You can’t. I don’t trust you right now, and even if I did, you aren’t right for this mission.” His eyes softened every so slightly. “If the others need backup, they’ll call you.”

Tim walked away, heading for the bioship. It was already configured to be manually piloted, so it shouldn’t be a problem. Cassie led the way, climbing aboard, and waiting for Tim. He appreciated her letting him handle this.

Before he could close the door, Nightwing said, “I can’t stop you can I?” Tim didn’t answer. “Please at least be safe.”

“Aren’t I always?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anyone caught my Six of Crows quote, I love you dearly. Kaz is one of my favorite characters of all time and I love those books.
> 
> It should also be appreciated that I didn't title this chapter 'Disaster Gays' cause I really thought about it.


	16. Eye of the storm

Kon’s head was starting to get really cloudy.

His chest still burned and his shoulder still throbbed and every breath seemed to be harder than the last and Slade’s whistling was getting _really_ annoying.

What kind of assassin whistles lullabies while on a job?

Kon couldn’t even talk because Slade had decided to leave the gag in his mouth.

He was just stuck in a murky haze of pain, his captor sitting across from him with his mask off, watching Kon’s suffering like it was a crappy TV program he couldn’t be bothered to even pay attention to.

If he could just get away from the kryptonite, maybe his healing factor would kick in and he could break the chains. He had a healing factor right? It was so hard to remember the last time he’d been hurt this bad.

Unfortunately, Slade had decided to leave the ring on.

So all Kon had to do was steal a kryptonite ring off the world’s deadliest assassin and somehow get rid of it while bound, gagged, and nearly passed out from pain.

No problem.

Kon tried to clear his thoughts. They would come. _Tim_ would come. One way or another, his friends would get him out of this.

He banged his head against the wall in an effort to clear his head. It sort of worked?

Slade picked his head up, suddenly looking at him with interest. “What are you doing?”

Quirking an eyebrow, Kon made a low groaning sound that managed to sound sarcastic even through the bundle of cloth.

Slade hummed in consideration. “Why not? I’m starting to get bored anyway.” Leaning forward to pull the gag out of Kon’s mouth, Slade paused to warn him, “If you annoy me, I’m going to put it back in.”

With the gag gone, Kon worked his jaw to relieve the pain, spitting, “Tastes like crap.”

Ignoring him, Slade asked, “So what’s your deal kid?”

“I’m a clone. Of Superman. And Lex Luthor.”

He snorted. “That’s not a ‘deal’ kid. It’s an origin story. And what’s that even like? Superman always struck me as a family man, but Lex? I’m not sure that man has ever honestly loved anyone.”

For an assassin, Slade sounded pretty disgusted by the lack of love in Luthor’s life. Kon sized Slade up. He really shouldn’t be talking to the enemy, but he didn’t have any other options and he was kind of curious where this was going.

“Actually, Superman didn’t take the whole ‘Lex violating him to make me’ thing very well. Honestly I think he might have killed me if the team and Batman hadn’t stuck up for me. Then we just kind of… avoided each other. The team helped me adjust to Earth so I didn’t really need him. He came around though, gave me a Kryptonian name and said I was ‘part of the family’, so that’s nice I guess. It’s improvement anyway.”

Slade frowned. “He kind of sounds like a crappy dad.”

“Dad?” Kon chuckled. “I wouldn’t exactly describe him like that.” Ma and Pa Kent were the closest things he had to family, but he wasn’t about to tell Slade about them. “Lex was actually the one that reached out to me, but he had kind of evil motives so… ” He tried to shrug, but found it both hard and immensely painful.

“That’s rough.” Slade nodded wisely. “Family’s important, kid. If the boy scout and Luthor aren’t it for you, you should probably start looking.”

Kon squinted at him. “How exactly does one go looking for family?”

Slade didn’t respond for a long time. “It seems to me that you’ve already got one.”

Already-? What did Slade mean he already had a family?

Kon was about to reply to that when something buzzed in his captor’s suit. Kon frowned in confusion, trying to figure out were the noise was coming from, but faster than he was really able to process, Slade was looking at a screen of some sort.

Then he was standing up.

“ _Bastards,_ ” Deathstroke growled, ripping the kryptonite ring off his finger and placing it in the far corner from Kon. “Stay here while I go fucking kill some unfortunate idiots.”

“Like I’m going anywhere,” Kon said sarcastically.

Deathstroke was already slamming the door closed again.

At least Kon’s head was a lot clearer now.

***

“Tim?” Cassie’s voice sounded more timid than Tim had ever heard it.

Blinking for the first time in several minutes, Tim yanked himself out of his reverie to address her. “Yeah?”

Cassie’s hesitation was enough to tell Tim she was starting to reconsider whatever it was she had planned on saying. “Are you and Nightwing… okay?”

“Why do you care?” Tim almost apologized immediately for his bluntness, but he was genuinely curious.

Frowning, Cassie replied, “Casue I care about you, idiot. You’re my friend and Dick’s my… distant relative slash superior officer who I would totally bang if it came down to it, and I want you guys to get along. Plus, your brothers.”

Tim stared at her for a moment before snorting and turning on the autopilot to give her his full attention. “Brothers? I’m pretty sure the only person that legitimately sees us as brothers, is Dick, and he’s made it clear he doesn’t need me anymore.” Squinting at her in confusion, he added, “And how can you suggest banging him in the same sentence you say something really supportive and call him a relative?”

Cassie’s mouth twitched. “That’s just who I am as a person.”

“And didn’t you _just_ describe yourself as a lesbian less than an hour ago?”

“First of all, have you seen that ass? And I said bang, not marry.”

The comment had the desired effect, Tim burst out laughing.

“Second of all, don’t change the subject. Are you two okay?”

Tim’s smile faded. He should lie to her. He should tell her they were fine and move on. In fact, just to be safe, he should probably avoid her for a few days.

“Honestly?” _No, not honestly! Tell her you’re fine!_ “I don’t think we’ve been ‘okay’ in a while.”

Before he could open up the hatch and throw himself out, Cassie quietly replied, “Does Dick know that?”

Tim’s mind went completely still. He… he didn’t usually think about it like that, but… “No,” he whispered. “Dick sees what he wants- no _needs_ to see. And that’s me. Totally fine. Someone who’s always useful without the added strings of a healthy relationship. I don’t need him to look after me, I just get the job done, and that’s all Dick’s ever wanted or needed from me. I’m a means to an end, _not a brother._ ”

No. That was Jason. That _is_ Damian. But it wasn’t Tim.

Cassie was shocked into silence.

Why did he say that? He hadn’t meant to say that. He shouldn’t have said that. It was an idiotic thing to do and now Cassie was gonna hate him and how would he-

Tim’s train of thought wrecked violently when something ran into him. The next thing he knew Cassie was hugging him, almost tight enough to bruise, but not quite.

“You aren’t a means to an end and you aren’t just useful,” She whispered letting up a little so he could breathe. “You’re a person with emotions that you have the right to express. Dick loves you he _really_ does, and so do we. You’re _important_ Tim. Not just for what you can do; _for who you are._ ”

He didn’t know how to respond to that, so instead he just wrapped his arms around her and returned the hug, clinging to her with some emotion he couldn’t quite place.

He lost himself in the hug, losing track of time as he tried to memorize exactly what Cassie felt and smelled like. Even after they passed the minute mark and it should have been awkward, Cassie didn’t let go, not until the proximity alert went off and Tim reluctantly pulled away. “We’re here.”

Cassie held his gaze for a long time before finally stepping back. “Let’s go bring our boy home.”

Climbing out of the bioship, Tim looked around at the barren landscape. The truck stuck out like a sore thumb against the featureless landscape, even in the dark. In some ways, Slade’s isolation had only made it easier.

Speaking of the dark, Tim looked up and… woah.

Stars lit up the sky in every direction, stretching across the vast open space like the city lights stretched across Gotham at night. Trying to take it all in at once made Tim feel… small. He was used to the starless Gotham sky, or the artificial lights that dotted the streets bellow when he stood atop one of the many skyscrapers. Having the stars above him be so plentiful and so bright was an entirely new experience and one that was harder for him to comprehend than he’d anticipated.

He thought about saying something to Cassie, but for once, he was well and truly rendered speechless.

“Come on, Kon’s waiting for us,” Cassie murmured, breaking the spell.

Tim closed his eyes and felt all the desperation come flooding back. Kon was _so_ close.

He nodded to Cassie and together they approached the truck cautiously. Despite knowing the shielding would block any signals, Tim tried to scan for lifeforms anyway. When he came up empty, Cassie shrugged and walked around to the back, preparing to open it up.

Tim got out a birdarang and counted her off with on his fingers. On three, she yanked it up to reveal the room within.

Tim’s grip momentarily tightened on the birdarang as he got ready to throw it, but as they’d expected Slade was gone, so instead of attacking he climbed into the truck next to Cassie.

Spotting a light, he flipped it on, lighting up the space. Tim took in the table covered in tools that made his stomach squirm, the camera Slade must have used to make the ransom video, and the kryptonite in the corner of them room in less than a second before his attention was automatically drawn to the most important thing in the room.

“Are you ‘ere tah rescue me?” Kon slurred, squinting against the sudden light.

Tim’s heart squeezed painfully at the sight. Kon was in bad shape. Slade had wrapped his wounds, so he probably wasn’t about to die, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t in pain.

Cassie was still frozen when Tim got moving, immediately slipping the kryptonite ring into a led lined pouch on his utility belt. That alone seemed to lift a heavy weight of Kon’s shoulders.

He could barely stop himself from running as he walked over to Kon, kneeling down carefully next to him and flicking the lock picks out of his gloves. “Stay with me clone boy, we’re going to get you out of here.” Leaning over Kon, he began working on the shackles.

“Tim?” Kon asked, his eyes brightening. Tim’s fingers froze on the locks and for a second he thought he might kiss Kon.

All the anger and the fear that had been swirling in him since Cassie had called him seemed to drain away in that moment, replaced by something fuzzier in his chest that urged him to hold Kon and never let go.

He actually got as far as to bring one hand down to cup Kon’s cheek, staring into Kon’s eyes as he searched for… something.

God, even hazy with pain, Kon’s eyes were goregeous. They were a deep sky blue that Tim’s own eyes had never been able to achieve.

But Cassie was still behind him. He reminded himself of that fact vehemently until the urge to kiss Kon passed and he was able to pull away and return to the lock.

“Yeah. It’s me,” he said gruffly, trying to ignore what he’d almost just done. What he _might_ have done if Cassie wasn’t watching.

Kon smiled at him weakly and all the progress Tim had made on the not kissing him thing seemed to dissolve.

But instead of saying something else, Kon’s eyes started to close again. Tim panicked, reaching for something to keep him awake. “Tell me about your day. You know, before the kidnapping.” His lips twitched at the memory of Kon trying to keep him lucid over the phone so long ago.

Apparently the gamble on Kon’s memory payed off, because he tried to laugh. It just turned into a hacking cough, but it meant he was alive, so Tim was thankful. “It wasn’t actually going so great. But it did just get a lot better.”

Tim went back to picking the lock, only half paying attention. “How so?”

“I’m looking at an angel.”

“Don’t go into the light!” Tim blurted in alarm.

Behind him Cassie started cracking up. Kon just frowned in confusion.

“What’s so funny?” Tim asked, finishing with the shackles and helping Kon lower his arms slowly so he didn’t hurt himself.

Cassie leaned down to help him, but Kon’s face still screwed up in pain. “How oblivious you are.”

Tim began a field examination, giving Kon some Kryptonian strength painkillers and checking to make sure that he was correct that Kon wouldn’t die before they got home or lead Slade to the cave via a hidden tracker.

When he was satisfied, he said, “He’ll live, but we need to get him to the bioship as soon as possible.”

Cassie nodded her understanding, warning Kon, “This is going to hurt and I know you’d rather it was Tim, but he’s skinny and human, so I’m going to carry you to the ship now.”

“Hey!”

Ignoring Tim, Cassie scooped up Kon and started toward the bioship.

Huffing, Tim lingered for a moment to see if there was anything he should take. In the end, the only thing he thought might prove important was the camera. He packed it up and slung the case over his shoulder.

Now to get rid of the evidence. He placed charges packed with a mix of PETN and TNT strategically around the truck, and pulled out his detonator, syncing it with the explosives.

Throwing the truck one last contemptuous look, he jumped out and ran to catch up with the other two.

“See? You needed another person. You wouldn’t have been able to get Kon to the ship without me!” Cassie pointed out.

Tim shrugged. “It was a good call.”

“Mhm.” Cassie hummed, setting Kon down on the bed the bioship had configured for him. “I’m going to check in with Bart and Jaime to see how things are on their end.”

Tim’s attention was still fixed on Kon and all he could do was nod. “You’re gonna be alright Kon.”

Kon’s finger twitched, so Tim took his hand, holding on with everything he felt, but couldn’t understand.

“Course I am. I’ve got you on my side.” Tim’s lips twitched. “I knew you’d come. Didn’t know how, but you always find away.”

Kon had known he’d come. Kon had never lost faith. He’d believed in Tim even when he was being tortured.

“That’s why… ” Kon’s eyes slid closed as he started to lose consciousness again. “That’s why I…” He wasn’t able to finish his sentence before his hand went limp in Tim’s.

In a moment of panic, Tim frantically checked for Kon’s pulse. It was there, faint, but steady. He was going to come out of this just fine. He had to. If he didn’t, Tim would march into hell himself and drag Kon back.

His grip on Kon’s hand tightened, and then released. With great difficulty, Tim turned away from him and walked to the controls.

“What’s their status?” he asked Cassie, taking off and hovering at the edge of the detonator’s range.

She rolled her eyes. “Fine. Bart is running them back to the mountain and they cleaned up after themselves, so Slade won’t technically be able to trace any of this back to us, but he’s going to know we did it.”

Tim shrugged. “As long as he doesn’t know the specifics, there isn’t much he can do. Ready for the fireworks?”

Cassie raised an eyebrow questioningly, but obligingly looked out the window. Smirking evilly, Tim hit the button, detonating the charges he set. With a sound similar to, but so much worse than gunfire, the Truck blew up.

An impressive mushroom cloud of dust and smoke bloomed where it was seconds earlier.

“Boom goes the dynamite.” Tim whispered, smiling at the destruction he’d caused. There was something supremely satisfying about blowing up the truck Slade had tortured Kon in.

“Have I ever told you you’re scary? Like, really scary?”

Tim laughed. “I’ll take that as a compliment.” And turned the ship around, setting a course for home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you enjoy this fluff? Hold onto that feeling. *insert maniacal laughter*


	17. Freezing cold wrath

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title is supposed to be a play on "white hot anger" but I'm not clever soooooo... enjoy!

Kon was floating.

It was kind of like flying, but it was a lot easier. And there was less wind. And less noise. It was a whole lot of nothing actually.

“He’s waking up, go get the others”

That was Tim’s voice. Kon frowned. Tim couldn’t fly. How was he here?

“Tim?” he mumbled. Now that he thought about it, hadn’t he been dreaming about Tim moments ago? Or was it longer? It could have been a few weeks ago for all Kon knew.

“Clone boy.” Tim’s voice sounded relieved, but also strained, like he was still worried.

Working like an anchor, Tim’s voice pulled Kon through the haze towards a light that was… 

Really bright.

“Please turn off the sun.”

Tim didn’t quite respond, but a moment later the light was less blinding and Kon was able to open his eyes.

His gaze locked onto Tim. “Hullo.”

The bags under Tim’s eyes were probably designer, and definitely five shades darker than Kon was used to, but his clothes looked fresh, his hair was damp, and he was smiling, so it was probably fine. “Hi.”

For some reason Kon giggled. “Your hair looks really soft. I really want to touch it.”

Tim’s face went beet red, but he was saved the embarrassment of answering when Cassie burst into the room followed by Bart and Jaime.

“Yo!” Bart appeared over Tim’s shoulder, looking down at Kon, “Kon,” and then on his other side, leaning in close to scrutinize him, “my man,” then back by Jaime’s side, “back in the land of the living!”

Kon considered that. He couldn’t seem to really _feel_ anything, but he was lucid- probably- and he could _see_ his body, but he could also remember Slade dragging a long knife across his chest. “More or less.”

Jaime laughed tensely. “There was a while there we thought you might not-”

“We knew you’d be fine,” Tim cut in. “Always.”

Cassie looked at Tim sadly for a moment before changing the subject. “Is now a bad time to ask him about-?”

“Yes. It is,” Jaime deadpanned. “But I’m not sure it will ever be a good one, so shoot.”

Cassie smiled, turning her attention back to Kon in a way that made him nervous. “On the alignment chart, where do you place yourself? I’m a distinguished lesbian, Tim’s a functional gay, Jaime’s a disaster bi, and Bart’s a disaster gay.”

Tim facepalmed. “You should probably wait until he’s not high on painkillers to ask something like that.”

“He’s not _that_ high. He’s probably closer to buzzed,” Bart pointed out.

Kon tuned them out, thinking about how to answer Cassie. He sure felt like a disaster, and he certainly wasn’t distinguished, but he still probably fell more on the function side most of the time, particularly compared to Jaime and Bart. And he had dated M’gann so he was probably bi? He hadn’t put that much thought into it.

When he’d first come out of the pod, he’d just assumed straight was the only available option. He’d started dating M’gann under that assumption, but when Wally and Dick had come out as a couple, he’d been able to broaden his understanding of the subject.

After that he’d just kind of accepted what he’d felt and respected what others felt. He’d never tried to label it. But this wasn’t really about that was it? It was a ‘meme’ or something. So he shouldn’t have to think about it too much.

So he went with the facts. “Functional bi.”

Jaime smiled smugly. “Called it.”

Cassie was facepalming and Bart looked ecstatic for some reason, but Tim was looking at him in shock.

Kon frowned at him. “What did _you_ think I was?”

“Straight!” Tim exclaimed.

Kon binked slowly, processing that answer until he suddenly burst out laughing. Even in his drugged state he could appreciate the irony of that.

After a moment the others all joined in his laughter. When he finally calmed down, he was feeling rather exhausted and said, “I think I’m going to pass out again.”

“Not before you eat,” Tim said firmly glancing at Bart who disappeared suddenly. While he was gone, Tim let go of Kon’s hand to help prop him up. Wait, when when had Tim taken his hand? Had he been holding it the whole time? Kon suddenly deeply regretted not being able to feel his hand.

Bart reappeared with soup, handing it to Tim who took it easily and began feeding Kon.

“Heh, it’s just like two weeks ago,” Kon said, remembering the exact same situation, but reversed and with less people.

Tim’s cheeks colored. “And if we’re lucky this will be the last time.”

Kon smiled at him. “We really need to stop getting injured.”

“You two are gonna make me sick you’re so adorable.”

“Cassie!” Tim was blushing faintly again.

The conversation flowed from there, all four of his friends seemed intent on entertaining Kon while keeping the conversation far away from his kidnapping.

Once the soup was gone, Kon found it increasingly hard to keep his eyes open.

Just as he was drifting off, he heard Tim say, “G’night, Kon.” and he thought he felt pressure on his hand, but he might have dreamed it.

***

When Kon woke up, Tim was long gone.

Instead, Cassie was at his side.

Kon tried really hard not to be disappointed by that.

He groaned as pain came rushing back into his body. Is this what the humans felt after every mission? Kon thought about all the times Tim had taken a beating and walked away from it, barely acknowledging the pain.

Great. That only made Tim more badass _and_ it was going to make Kon worry more.

“Hey Cas,” Kon greeted.

Cassie’s head jerked up. “Kon! You’re awake.”

“That tends to happen.”

She blushed. “Sorry I was just expecting you to be asleep a little longer.”

“Yet you’re here anyway?” Kon asked.

“I-” She open and closed her mouth a few times, choosing her next words carefully. “I thought someone should be.”

Kon smiled at her. “Thank you Cassie, but I really need to know how long I’ve been out and what’s been happening.” _And where Tim is._

Her smile faltered. “You just woke up Kon. It’s okay to wait about before you jump back into things.”

His stomach filled with dread. “Cassie, what happened?”

“That’s… look, you need to know it’s not your fault.”

***

Finding him wasn’t even hard.

It would have been insulting if he hadn’t known that Ra’s _wanted_ to be found.

Tim ghosted onto the property, unseen and undetected, passing everyone from assassins and guards, to courtiers with wicked looking daggers and chefs that looked at everyone like their next meal. He didn’t pay attention to any of them. He had somewhere to be.

The sliver of ice that had hardened in his heart seemed to grow larger with every step.

Someone had to pay for hurting Kon.

Preferably they would _bleed_ for daring to lay a finger on Tim’s friend, indirectly or not, but not everyone’s hell is fire, and sometimes there are better ways to hurt a man.

Colder, more permanent ways.

Tim knew all of them.

***

Kon’s heart skipped a beat and then two more. “ _What’s_ not my fault?”

“He left.” Cassie’s face twisted painfully. “After you woke up the first time, Tim left. He wouldn’t tell us where he was going, just that it was important.”

Kon’s eyes widened with fear. “The zeta tube’s, we can track where he went can’t we?‘

She shook her head. “He went to the cave. Took his bike. Batman himself said we couldn’t track it. He’s… he just vanished.”

***

Hacking into the mainframe was a little trickier, but not tricky enough to stop him.

Taking out the base’s security so he couldn’t be seen was the first step. Then he found the room Ra’s was in and turned off the lights.

Luckily for him, the room had several monitors. He sent his feed to all of them, surrounding Ra’s and his inner circle with the Red Robin mask.

“Going after Kon was a mistake.”

Ra’s turned this way and that, put completely off balance by Tim’s unexpected method of contact.

“Detective,” he said at last, picking a screen to face, “I thought you might do me the honor of visiting me in person.”

“I didn’t think I could be in the same room as you and not shove by bow staff so far down your throat it came out your ass,” Tim replied coolly.

He watched Ra’s swallow painfully and briefly imagined wrapping his hands around that neck and just squeezing until the sliver of ice melted. “Leave me.” Everyone in the room filled out. “Why do you think it was me? I heard Deathstroke was the one to kidnap your teammate.”

“Please, Slade is a mercenary. Someone hired him. And between the not so subtle jabs at my name in his little speech, and the impossible knowledge of certain secret IDs, you might as well have sent him gift wrapped with ‘Love, Ra’s’ attached.”

Ra’s chuckled. “And you wonder why I want you on my side? Yes. I did hire Slade to… scare your teammate a bit.”

“Why?” And there it was. That was the question Tim had really come all this way to ask. “Why Kon? Why now?”

A shadow passed across the older man’s face. “Because you _care_ for him,” he spat. “I saw your little reunion on my boat, he’s a weakness. Someone as impressive as yourself should cut off all weaknesses like I have. Only then will you see, you and I are the same. You belong _with me._ ” The ‘to me’ was unspoken, but Tim heard it anyway. The words chilled him to his core. Not because they revealed how unhinged Ra’s was truly becoming, but because he’d heard them before.

The speech only served to harden the sliver of ice next to Tim’s heart.

“I will never join you, and I think you might come to regret this little attempt to convince me otherwise.” The voice he heard was not his own. It was ice and wrath. It was Janet Drake’s.

Ra’s sneered. “What are you going to do? Kill me? And break the Bat’s one rule?”

His smile was not his own either. It was unforgiving and cruel. It was a twisted version of his Red Robin grin, an expression that had always meant pain for someone. Today it was Ra’s. “Maybe _I_ can’t kill you, but there is someone who can, and I happen to have her number. What do you think your dear daughter will say when I tell her I’m ready to join this war?”

Tim watched the color drain from Ra’s face with a sick sense of satisfaction. “You can’t,” the man choked out, “Batman is neutral.”

“I’m not Batman.”

Tim set off every defense mechanism the room had at once. Poison darts and toxic gas filled the air. It wouldn’t kill Ra’s, but it would hurt like hell if he got hit.

“You better start praying to whatever God still willing to listen that you never see Kon again, because if you so much as look in his direction, I’ll show you just how similar to you I can be, and I don’t think you’ll survive that.” Tim’s voice cut like ice through the speakers, slicing through the ragged coughing. “Goodbye Ra’s.”

Then he severed the connection, leaving Ra’s alone in the poisoned darkness.

***

Kon reeled. Tim was gone? Why had he left? Cassie said it wasn’t his fault, but how could she know that?

“Is it possible he just went home?”

Cassie shook her head reluctantly. “Bruce checked Drake manor, and he isn’t there.” She hesitated. “There’s something else you should probably know.”

He wasn’t really sure he could take any more jarring news, but Kon nodded anyway, urging her to continue.

Refusing to look at him, Cassie said, “When you disappeared, Dick hid it from Tim. He was worried about-” She faltered over her words, glancing at Kon before returning her stare to the wall. “He was worried about how Tim might react. He successfully hid it for a whole day before Slade sent that video and I told Tim anyway.”

Squaring her shoulders, something flickered across Cassie’s face too quickly for Kon to place. “I don’t regret my actions. Tim found you, and that’s what matters, but… he was terrifying Kon. I’ve never seen Red Robin like that. He walked in and it was like opening the door to a freezer, it felt like the room dropped ten degrees, and the way he talked to Dick was so… cold. He didn’t even raise his voice, but for a second there I thought he might kill Dick. Just a second, but the thought crossed my mind.”

Dick and Tim didn’t always have the best relationship, but Kon had rarely seen Tim angry with his brother. And scary? Sure, Tim was a badass, but he was also just a kid who looked like he hadn’t slept, seen the sun, or eaten in days. Intimidation wasn’t exactly his strong suit.

But then… Kon was only just starting to understand how Tim saw people. He didn’t just see their personalities or faces, he saw their secrets and motivations. He was able to understand and sometimes control what people wanted most in the world, and wasn’t that its own breed of terrifying?

Two sentences, right?

“And when he saw the video of you, it was like something shifted. He went from colder than ice to boiling hot and he just left. The next time I saw him he had a whole plan together and was almost normal again, but it scares me to think what he might have done if there hadn’t been a relatively easy solution.” Cassie’s hands fidgeted in her lap. “When we were on the bioship and he blew up the truck, he looked like himself, it was his usual Red Robin grin anyway, but there was something else there… he was so _happy_ to watch the destruction.”

Cassie shivered, finishing in a rush, “And then when we got back, he sat by your bedside for hours. We brought him food, but he refused to sleep. It was only just before you woke up I convinced him to take a shower.”

Kon almost smiled at the thought of Tim by his bedside for so long, but he couldn’t get past everything else she’d said.

He’d seen the look in Tim’s eyes a few times. Rarely, only for a second, and _always_ pointed at the enemy, but it was there. That little sliver of ice that revealed what Tim was capable of if truly pushed. It was part of what had made the thought of evil Tim so scary.

But Kon couldn’t imagine Tim looking at Dick like that. And over _him_ no less.

“But he didn’t… he didn’t actually hurt anyone, right?”

“No.” She bit her lip. “It was weird, he didn’t even _try_ to go after Slade. He didn’t tell someone else to go after Slade either. His plan was solely focused around getting you safe, no revenge included.”

Kon frowned. It didn’t make sense. He was happy Tim didn’t do something he might come to regret, but how could he be that angry and not seek any revenge at the same time? That didn’t line up with anything Kon had ever experienced concerning emotions like those.

“So how long have I been asleep?”

“You’ve been out eighteen hours since the first time you woke up and you’d been asleep six hours before that.”

“What?!” Kon asked in alarm.

She just shrugged. “On the bright side, we had you under a sunlamp and your healing factor is really starting to kick in. In fact, you’re basically healed now, but you’re going to be _really_ sore for awhile so I wouldn’t push it if I were you.”

Kon swung his legs off the bed, still sitting, but now completely upright. His head spun for a moment and his everything hurt like hell, but stretching was supposed to be good for sore muscles, right? Dick had definitely mentioned something about that at some point.

“So Tim’s been missing for eighteen hours?”

“Well… there’s more.”

***

Tim packed away his equipment and ran like hell.

He ghosted down hallways and broke down doors, whatever it took to get out before they got the security system back online.

In the end, he only just made it. He vanished into the trees where his bike was stashed just before the searchlights switched on and the yelling started again.

He took a moment to catch his breath, staring down at the detonator in his hand. He’d been about to do it.

His mother’s voice rang in his head, _destroy them Timothy._

It was a subtle whisper that had been snaking through his head since he’d heard Kon was missing.

_If they come for you and yours, you burn them to the ground. No mercy, no hesitation. You will rule through fear, because nothing else lasts._

The charges were still in his backpack. But it was too dangerous, too much risk. He wouldn’t go there. He’d made his point.

God he was tired.

When he was a safe distance away from the League of Assassins base, Tim pulled over to the side of the road and pulled out a phone he’d encrypted for just this purpose.

_Grandpa crossed a line, I’m yours to command. Keep it on the DL ;) -RR_

He left that up to Thalia’s interpretation, trusting her to understand the weight of it.

He started his bike again and got back on the road. Contrary to popular belief, Tim did know his limits, and he’d reached them. He needed to find a place to crash for the night.

He should go to Drake Manor. That was the smart thing. The logical thing.

And Dick would probably be there waiting.

Wayne Manor and by extension, the Batcave, were out for the same reason. As was Mount Justice.

He could always go to one of his safe houses, but the ones he had that no one knew about were severely limited. They existed, but the drive would be longer than he could probably stay awake for, and somehow the bare necessities and hard floor of a safe house wasn’t an appealing thought.

Tim took an exit and realized his body had decided for him. He had automatically started driving towards Gotham, and there was only one place in Gotham that would be safe for him tonight.

He _had_ said he wanted to catch up with Selina.

***

More?! How could there possibly be more?!

“Dick trying to hide your disappearance from Tim was the last straw,” Cassie said.

Oh. Oh no.

“After you fell back asleep the first time, Tim changed back into the Red Robin suit, but Dick asked about the bruise on his face and tried to stop him from leaving. He… didn’t take that well. He-he didn’t yell or anything, but somehow that just made it worse. And then he just… left Dick standing there. Broken and speechless. That was the last time anyone saw him.” Cassie sighed. “We all knew it was coming. This argument has been building up for God knows how long, but none of us were prepared for that. It wasn’t even an argument really, in an argument both participants speak, that was just… painful.”

Kon searched for words. Anything that would retroactively help his bird, but nothing came to mind.

He still remembered the dark days when they’d thought Batman was dead and Dick- actually Kon had no idea what had happened. All he knew was Dick had been Batman at the time and one day Tim was gone. All Dick had said was he wasn’t Robin anymore and that he’d come around.

Kon had been baffled at the time, maybe angry, but it wasn’t until Tim had come back as Red Robin, utterly exhausted in ways that Kon couldn’t even begin to comprehend, that Kon began to understand it hadn’t been his choice to leave.

In the aftermath, Tim had been immediately accepted back onto the team, not that he’d ever officially been removed, and Dick had handed the cowl back to Bruce, returning to lead them as Nightwing. 

But to Kon’s knowledge, Tim had never talked to anyone about what had happened during the month everyone had thought he was crazy. He never talked to Dick or Bruce about no longer being Robin either.

And as much as that felt like ages ago, it was relatively recent and the wounds were still fresh.

“Wait, bruise?” He didn’t remember Tim having a bruise- but then, he didn’t remember much at all.

“Yeah, it was strange,” Cassie said. “When Tim came back from the shower he had a kinda black eye. We didn’t think much of it, but I guess Dick noticed it and wanted to know what happened. I think that might have been what set Tim off as much as trying to stop him from leaving.”

“Where is Nightwing now?” Kon asked quietly. Dangerously.

She bit her lip. “He’s out looking for Tim. Dick’s got a lot of faults, but he knows he messed up and he wants to fix it.”

“He’d better,” Kon growled. He knew whose side of this argument he was on, and it sure as hell wasn’t Dick’s. Later he’d do his best to be impartial enough to moderate a civilized argument, but for now he let himself feel that anger.

“I can’t stop whatever you’re about to do, but you need to remember _you_ just went through significant trauma too before you jump right into someone else’s fight,” Cassie warned.

Kon’s eyes softened. “I know Cassie. And I’ll deal with that… eventually. Right now, Tim needs me.”

She frowned, staring him down until she sighed. “I can’t sway you on this can I?”

“No.”

“Then I’ll help you find him, but it’s us against the entire Batfam.”

“And we’ve got something they don’t.”

Cassie’s lips twitched. “What’s that?”

“Tim’s going to want to see me.” _Or at least, I really hope he is._

She snorted. “You’re cocky. But not wrong. How do you want to do this?”

***

The world was spinning awful fast.

His limbs felt like lead too. Was it possible he’d accidentally gotten on a carnival ride? Was the Joker involved?

Tim shook his head and immediately regretted it. He raised his hand to knock on the door he’d been thinking about for almost an hour, but he was pretty sure it was shaking. The world was getting really fuzzy and kinda black around the edges and it made the floor look like a really nice place to lie down.

Before Tim could collapse or make a feeble effort at actually knocking, the door swung open.

“Kitten?” Selina asked, the pet name coming easily, even after so many years. Her face revealed hundreds of questions rolling beneath the surface, but instead of asking any of them, she just stood aside and said, ”Come in.”

Tim stumbled forward and would have collapsed if Selina hadn’t caught him. “Needed a safe place to go. Sorry about the intrusion.”

Selina snorted fondly. “Even half asleep you still have manners.”

“Please don’t tell the Bats,” Tim begged in one last moment of desperate clarity. “I only need to borrow your couch for a few hours, then I’m gone.”

“Of course, Kitten,” she soothed, helping him to the couch. “Sleep it off. I won’t tell anyone your here.”

She was so nice. How did Tim know her again? She was probably an angel.

His head hit the couch and Tim was out like a light.

Selina sighed. When had this become her life? “Goodnight, Kitten,” she murmured, kissing his forehead and stepping away. Tomorrow morning he’d have a lot of explaining to do, but that was tomorrow.


	18. Crashing hard

Tim woke up to the smell of coffee. He couldn’t remember the last time that had happened.

For all his love of the drink, he’d always made it for himself. No one else was around at the manor, and even if they were, his room was so isolated he couldn’t smell it.

He should probably be concerned at the clear sign he was waking up with company and probably in hostile territory, but… _coffee._

Whoever was there had to know him pretty well and was nice enough to offer him coffee so they couldn’t be that bad, right?

Tim opened his eyes and sat up. Oh. Selina’s place. Why was he in Selina’s apartment?

“Morning Kitten.”

Selina walked out of the kitchen in shorts and a shirt so big it was slipping off her shoulders, two mugs already in hand.

Tim smiled sleepily, reaching up to take off his mask. “Hello Ms. Kyle.”

Rolling her eyes, she handed him one of the mugs. “How many times do I have to insist you call me Selina? And sorry about the mask, but I didn’t want to take it off and risk you waking up in a panic.”

Nodding his understanding and thanks, Tim took a sip of the coffee. “You remembered how I like my coffee?”

She rolled her eyes. “How could I forget a nine year old who drinks black coffee?”

Tim grinned sheepishly. “How have you been?”

“I’d answer, but I know you’re only asking as a courtesy,” Selina said, raising an eyebrow at him. “You probably already know everything from what I’ve been eating to who I’ve robbed recently.”

Smiling modestly, Tim switched tracks. “That’s fair. How are Harley and Ivy? And knowing the facts doesn’t even come close to talking to you.”

“They’re good.” Selina smiled fondly. “They’re both blind idiots who can’t tell they love each other, but Harley’s recovery is going great. The nightmares have all but stopped. Noteably, they’ve been getting better since she started sharing a bed with Ivy.”

“Maybe they just need a little nudge in the right direction,” Tim suggested.

“Maybe they need to be locked in a closet together for an hour,” Selina replied, taking a sip from her mug and raising her eyebrows in a way that suggested she was totally serious.

Tim laughed. “It’d have to be one hell of a closet to keep the two of them in.”

He’d missed this. The easy chemistry, the history, the understanding. Selina had made one of the worst parts of his life bearable.

Plus, she was his icon for using your eyebrows to express sarcasm.

“Thank you,” he said quietly.

Sensing the switch in tone, Selina sobered. “You’ll always be welcome here, kitten.”

He smiled. “If only I’d planned ahead enough to bring a change of clothes.”

Selina gasped dramatically. “A Bat who wasn’t prepared for everything? I’m shocked.”

Tim chuckled.

“But I can lend you some clothes.” She eyed him, guessing at his size. “Do you prefer skin tight or baggy?”

Tim blushed. Maybe letting Selina dress him was a bad idea. “Baggy I guess?”

“Remember where the bathroom is?”

“Course.”

“Go take a shower while I get you some clothes,” Selina ordered.

***

Kon was trying not to panic, he was just being irrational.

Tim virtually dropped off the grid all the time. He was capable and he was smart, he wasn’t going to get himself hurt just because Kon didn’t know where he was for a day.

But Tim’s probably abusive parents had been home two days ago and then he’d gotten more angry than anyone had ever seen him and had a fight with Nightwing, which from what Cassie told Kon, had been more like a one-sided verbal beat down, plus he hadn’t slept in at least twenty four hours and it wasn’t just Kon who didn’t know where he was; no one did.

But he was fine. Totally fine. He had to be.

He didn’t get to just save Kon’s life and then go and get himself killed. It wasn’t fair.

So instead of letting himself dwell on maybes that were _definitely not true,_ Kon thought about how he was going to find Tim.

>He considered teaming up with Dick, but he’d always been bad at holding his temper, and he didn’t think Tim would appreciate Kon speaking for him.

He wouldn’t bother trying to stop the Bats either though. If Tim didn’t want them to find him, they wouldn’t. It was as simple as that.

Of course that wasn’t great for Kon’s chances of finding him… but he had to believe he had a chance.

Kon dropped his towel, walking over to the dresser to pull out something to wear.

This wasn’t the first time Tim had gone missing after a big trauma.

Last time he’d come back with a dead man who’d never actually died and a hollow look in his eyes.

Kon wasn’t sure if Tim could handle going through that again.

But it didn’t matter, cause Tim wasn’t _going_ to go through that again.

There was a knock on Kon’s door just as he was pulling a shirt over his head. “Come in.”

Cassie opened the door. “I don’t know what your plan is, but we should get started on it soon. Nightwing finally told Batman the whole story and our boy’s about to have the entire Batfam on his ass.”

Kon nodded distractedly, pushing his wet hair out of his face. “Right. We need to make a plan.”

“First things first,” Cassie said, picking his phone up off the bed and tossing it to him. “Try just _calling_ him. He didn’t pick up for anyone else and his phone is off, but… you’re _you_ and even if he doesn’t see it right away, I get the feeling he might respond to your voicemail when he does.”

Kon stared at the phone. Why did the thought of calling Tim make him nervous? Was it because he was scared his friend wouldn’t pick up? Or that he would?

Cassie rolled her eyes. “I’m pretty sure you’ve never over thought anything in your life, now is _not_ the time to start.”

Snorting, Kon turned on his phone and hit the call button for his _Tim Drake_ phone. He might ditch the _Red Robin_ one if he was avoiding the Bats, but Kon knew he’d always have his personal cell on him. He didn’t like to think about why Tim was so attached to his phone, but for once, it would work for him.

To his surprise, he actually got a dial tone. So Tim had turned his phone back on again. That was a good sign.

He waited and just as he was starting to mentally compose his voicemail, Tim picked up.

***

Tim showered quickly and efficiently. In fact, the part that took the longest was staring at his phone.

He’d turned it off as soon as he left the cave, but he hadn’t thrown it away or anything; he’d been angry, not suicidal.

Ripping his gaze away from the phone, he instead looked at the clothes Selina had found for him. They weren’t _that_ bad. Sweatpants that actually fit pretty well and a loose tank top with a lower neckline than Tim usually allowed himself. All black, of course, with a cat on the tank top in simple white lines.

Over all, it wasn’t anything he would have picked for himself, (too much exposed skin- to many scars) but it was kinda cute, even though he wasn’t sure if it was Selina’s tank top or she was trying to send him a message.

Both options made him smile.

Dressed and clean, Tim gathered up his costume and exited the bathroom, walking back to the living room to find Selina flipping through a book. He knew for a fact that it was one of Alfred’s, and that also made him smile for some reason.

“Thanks for the clothes,” he said, sitting down next to her.

Closing her book, Selina dragged her eyes over his body and purred, “No thanks needed, I bet there’s a cat out there _dying_ to sink their claws into you.”

Tim blushed. “Selina!”

She laughed setting the book on the end table. Sobering suddenly she said, “I need you to know you will _always_ be welcome here. No matter what. Even if you don’t answer this question.” Tim gulped nervously. ”But I’m worried, so I’m still going to ask, what happened yesterday?”

Tim could feel his smile cracking and falling apart on his face. “I-I messed up. Big time.” He was ashamed of the tremor in his voice. “They probably hate me now and I’m not sure if I can go back.”

Selina pursed her lips and scooted closer so they were hip to hip and she could put a comforting arm around him. “You could never do something bad enough to make them hate you, kitten.”

“I _hurt_ Dick, and I almost killed people last night,” Tim croaked.

That was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Saying it out loud. He finally cracked. Two days of hell- even by his standards- and he finally cracked under the weight of it.

He sobbed. Instinctively hunching over and bringing up his hands to cover his face, but Selina wasn’t having any of it. She pulled him into her, one hand rubbing soothing circles on his back and the other in his hair. She tucked his head under her chin and whispered comforting words.

“You don’t have to tell me what happened, but you should. This kind of thing can eat at your insides until you’re so hollow you float away,” Selina murmured into his hair.

Tim waited until his sobs had died down to pull away from Selina, accepting the tissue she offered him. “Slade took Kon. He showed up during a mission and just took him. And Dick hid it from me _for a whole day._ ” Now that the anger had drained out of him, Tim could hear the betrayal in his words.

“I finally found out from Cassie, and it’s okay because I got him back and he’s going to be fine, but I was so angry. I- oh god Selina, I reminded myself of my _mother._ ” Tim took a rattling breath, shutting his eyes against the memories. “Once Kon woke up and the worry finally faded, it was like my heart just turned off. I wasn’t thinking about morals or what was right I just wanted to _hurt_ him.”

“You went after Slade?” Selina asked in alarm.

Tim shook his head. “No. Ra’s. He was the one that ordered Kon hurt. As despicable as it is, Slade was just doing his job. It was Ra’s that wanted to hurt Kon, so it was Ra’s that I wanted to hurt back.” He’d never even really thought about getting revenge against Slade. “I didn’t even have to think about it. I already had a plan, I was just waiting to make sure Kon was okay and I didn’t even realize it.”

Selina pursed her lips, still rubbing Tim’s back comfortingly, but didn’t say anything.

“Dick tried to stop me from leaving.” Tim almost started crying again. “He was just _there_ and I was so angry and he was standing in my way and I was still thinking about him trying to hide it from me and oh god oh godohgod-” He started to spiral, actually sobbing again now.

Selina pulled him in for another hug as he tried to keep telling his story. “You didn’t see his face but _\- what have I done?-_ I think it might have hurt him less if I’d actually _shot_ him.”

It took a minute for Tim to get himself under control again and continue his story. “And I just left him there. I left, and I found Ra’s, and I hurt him, but I didn’t kill him. God, Selina the bombs are still in my backpack. I was going to- it was _her_ voice. It was like she was standing behind me saying, _‘Go on Timothy. Do it. You’re a Drake and this is what that means.’_ I wasn’t thinking about who it could hurt or how many would end up dead, I was just thinking about sending a message and covering my tracks.”

He’d been so close to breaking the rule. “I would have gotten away with it too. The Bats would have assumed it was Thalia and no one in the league would have told. No one else would have known. Bruce would have never found out that I-” _killed._

He couldn’t bring himself to finish the thought out loud. His mother’s disapproving presence was still looming over him, scoffing at his weakness and hating him for failing her.

“And then I ran. I came here. None of them know where I am.” Regret washed over Tim like a bucket of ice water. “Oh god, Kon doesn’t know where I am. He’s probably awake by now and he thinks I just left him! What if he thinks I left because of him?” Tim asked in horror.

Burying his face in his hands Tim sobbed, “They’re all gonna hate me. They’re gonna find out what I did- what I said, and they’re going to hate me. All of them.”

Selina shushed him gently, pulling him towards her again in a hug that stopped him from speaking. Tim wrapped his arms around her and buried his face in her chest, sobbing quietly.

“They aren’t going to hate you, kitten. You want to know how I know?” She didn’t wait for an answer. “Because they love you too goddamn much. Bruce is awful at showing it, and god knows he’d never say it, but he loves you with everything he has. I know because he still talks about you. He tells me about how well you’re doing and what amazing thing you did that week with the team.”

Tim’s crying slowed as he listened to her talk.

“And Dick? I can’t even begin to express how much he loves you. That month you disappeared _broke_ him. He could _never_ hate you. No matter what you did. Not to mention Alfred, who would probably follow you into hell just to make sure you ate right. Did you know the last time I visited the manor, he showed me an album of pictures you took? He smiled with so much pride, I thought he might forget I was there. And Babs sees you as the little brother she never had, in fact, when I first heard that Oracle was a sarcastic hacking genius who works with the Bats, I thought they might be you.”

Tim laughed weakly.

“I’m pretty sure Steph is physically incapable of hating you. It’s simply not in her DNA. And Cass looks at you like you hung the moon in the sky.” She squeezed him a little tighter before letting go and holding him at arm's length so she could look him in the eyes. “And you know what? You love them too. I know that because you still call yourself Red Robin. You initiate hugs with Steph which is really saying something.” Tim chuckled and this time Selina smiled with him. “You hate classical music, but you went with Cass to the ballet. You stop by the manor to have biscuits with Alfred and bitch about Bruce. I _know_ you and Babs have some sort of overly-complex, long-standing computer game going on, that I, and others, have yet to figure out.”

Her eyes softened. “But most of all, I remember a little boy who looked at Robin with stars in his eyes and wanted nothing more than to be like him. That’s family Tim. And I can’t tell you how touched I am to be apart of it cause goddammit I love you too. I always have and I always will.”

This time Tim hugged her. “Thank you Selina,” he whispered, and he could only hope she understood what he meant.

“Of course kitten. If you ever need someone to remind you how loved you are, I am _always_ here for you.” After a moment she pulled away, biting her lip. “You don’t have to tell me, but what exactly did you say to Dick?”

Tim paled, but swallowed and told her anyway. “I’d just suited up to leave and he stopped me by the zeta beam. He asked me where the hell I thought I was going and how I got the bruise on my face, so I said it wasn’t any of his business since he’d made it abundantly clear he didn’t give a flying fuck about me _or_ Kon. I told him I was going to do what he wished he had the balls to do for Jason and he had no right to start caring now when he’s done everything he could to get Kon killed just like Wally.” _He’d said it all in two sentences too._

Selina kept a good poker face. “I can see why you regret that.” Tim just closed his eyes and nodded. “But we’ve all said things we regret in anger. Bruce has probably done it to everyone he’s ever cared about, even Dick’s done it. You should have seen some of the things he’s said to Bruce over the years.”

Tim’s lips twitched in a smile when his eyes suddenly flew open. “They probably think I went and tried to kill Slade or something!”

“You should probably assure them you haven’t committed murder or gotten yourself killed,” Selina said dryly.

Nodding, Tim pulled his phone out of the pocket of his sweatpants he’d slipped it in and turned it on. Messages immediately flooded the screen, sent by everyone from Jaime to Bruce.

“Wow,” he murmured.

Selina smiled reading one over his shoulder. “‘Please come home Tim. Whatever you’ve done, we can work through it, just come home.’ See. What did I tell you.” Noticing another one she snorted. “‘If you went to punch Slade in the face, why didn’t you bring us?!?!?! Not cool her-man-o.’ from Bart. He might be my favorite now.”

Bart did have a way of diffusing tense situations. Even from a thousand miles away, apparently.

“Where do I even start?” Tim asked, overwhelmed by the sheer volume of messages and voicemails. “Do I… call them? Just show up at the cave? Text? Who do I contact first?”

Before he could totally spiral or Selina could respond, Tim’s stomach growled. He blushed sheepishly. “How long has it been since you’ve eaten?” Selina asked sharply.

“How long was I sleeping?”

“Fourteen hours.” Tim tried not to balk at that.

“Then… thirty two hours? Ish?”

Selina sighed. “Okay well, first you’re going to contact somebody to let them know you’re alright, then you and I are going to eat. _Then_ you can figure out how to talk to everyone else.”

“Who can I contact? Any of the Bats would probably try to trace the call.” He knew who he wanted to call. The voice he was dying to hear, but Kon was probably still asleep. “I guess I can call Cassie. She’s stubborn enough to convince Dick to back off for a while and… and she saw what happened. She was there for all of it, so she’ll sort of understand.”

Sure of his decision, Tim pulled up his contacts to dial her number, but before he could, _One call away_ started playing from his phone. When Kon had made the joke, he’d thought having this song as his ring tone would have been something they laughed about. He hadn’t imagined it would make his cheeks go pink.

When he looked at her, Selina was already grinning at him knowingly. Damn her.

Realizing he’d already let it ring for several seconds, Tim answered, “Kon?” He hated how broken his voice sounded. He could only hope Kon didn’t notice he’d been crying.

“Tim.” Kon sounded more surprised than disappointed. That was good. Probably.

“I thought you’d still be asleep. I was actually going to call you, but… I didn’t think you’d want to hear from me even if you were awake.” Kon didn’t respond immediately so Tim rushed on, “How are they? Your wounds I mean. They looked really bad, but you were stable and we were pretty sure you were gonna be fine when I-” _left._ Tim’s teeth clicked as he shut his mouth abruptly. _Don’t ramble, it makes you look even more stupid._

“I’m gonna be fine Tim.” Kon’s voice sounded oddly… fond. Had no one explained to him what happened yet? “My wounds are healing, they probably won’t even scar, thanks to you.” Well he hadn’t been expecting that. “Cassie told me what happened. All of it.”

Tim closed his eyes, leaning into his phone as if Kon was actually there. “And you don’t hate me?”

“What? Of course not! Why would I-? No. I don’t hate you Tim.” Reliefied coursed through Tim’s body at Kon’s vehmenant reassurances. “I just wanted to say thank you. For finding me, and for bringing me home. Who knows where I’d be without you right now.” Kon finished darkly.

Tim _really_ didn’t want to think about that. “Anytime Kon, I’ll always be there for you.” He considered for a moment. “Actually no, never do that again. It was terrifying.”

Kon snorted. “Next time, I’ll try not to get kidnapped.”

“Thank you. I appreciate it,” Tim deadpanned.

He’d missed this. He counted back quickly. It had only been like three days since he had properly talked to Kon, but three days felt like a hell of a long time.

“I can feel you smiling,” Kon said amusedly.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Tim denied, still smiling.

Kon laughed. “Are you trying to tell me you’re _not_ smiling right now?”

He blushed, glancing at Selina who was very purposefully making herself busy in the kitchen. “... maybe.”

“Whatever you say,” Kon said smugly.

For a moment, neither of them knew how to go on. Neither of them wanted to.

Finally, Kon broke. “Tim, please tell me you’re safe. I know you probably need space, and I doubt you’ll be willing to come back- even for me- but at least do that. At least promise me you _will_ come home eventually, and that you’ll still be in one piece when you do.”

Tim sighed. “Kon, I messed up. Bad. I’m sure Cassie told you all about it, but you weren’t _there._ ” He lowered his head into his hands, but kept going. “I fucked up and I don’t know how to make it right, but I’m going to try. I _will_ come back.” He paused, but knew he had to say this, even if Kon was too nice to ask. “Speaking of what Cassie probably told you, I _did_ exact my not-so-bloody revenge for you and I’m gonna be honest, it was pretty satisfying, but I didn’t kill anyone. I know how I made it sound, but no one died and injuries were minor.”

Silence crackled through the line long enough to make Tim start to panic. Then Kon burst out laughing. “‘Not-so-bloody revenge’? Is that trademarked? Can I use it? Does it go hand in hand with ‘I’m gonna kill you in a nonviolent totally legal kind of way’?”

“That’s the part of that sentence you focus on?” Tim asked in exasperation.

When his laughter died down, Kon spoke softly. “I’m happy you’re safe, and you can take as much time as you need. I can try and get the Bats to back off until you’re ready.”

“Thank you, but the Bats are stubborn as all hell and don’t know the meaning of space.” Tim sighed, rolling his eyes even though Kon couldn’t see him. “And I do appreciate it, but you don’t need to, cause I’m on my way back now.” Distracted by his sudden restless need to do something, Tim started to stand up only to find his phone suddenly plucked from his hand.

“Hello darling, you must be Kon. I’m Selina, Tim’s acting mother right now, and _he will not_ be leaving any time soon.” Selina shot a glare at Tim, but he was to busy smiling to be cowed. “He’s barely eaten in almost forty hours, and I refuse to let him leave until he’s sat down for breakfast with me. That being said, feel free to join us at any time.”

Tim’s head snapped up.

Selina was already smirking at him, listening to whatever Kon was saying. “Mmm, of course. I completely understand. Hazard of the job, here he is.” Smiling triumphantly at him with one hand on her hip and the other waving the cell phone in front of his face, she said, “He wants to talk to you.”

He took the phone from her, but glared all the same. “Yeah?”

“You really haven’t eaten in almost forty hours!” Kon yelled. “What the hell, Tim?”

Wincing, Tim mumbed, “I had a granola bar and I drank a few cups of coffee… ”

Kon sighed in resignation. “She’s right, you need to eat.” Tim could feel Kon staring at the ceiling through the line. “But uh… this lady is a friend, right? You haven’t been kidnapped again?”

“One time! That happened one time!” Tim cried in exasperation.

“Let me guess. One time that I know of.”

“... yes.” Tim took a moment to just enjoy Kon’s laughter before answering, “But yeah. I came to her. Selina is totally safe.”

Selina mused, “Is it bad that sentence makes me want to go steal something expensive?” before taking back the phone and saying into it, “Now I have cooking to do, so will you be coming to pick Tim up? Or will I be sending him home on his bike?” Her tone left no doubt how she thought he should act. Her face split in a grin and she said, “Wonderful. But if you bring a brood of Bats to my door, I will personally ensure you are on monitor duty for the rest of your life.” Selina gave her threat a moment to sink in before giving him her address and saying goodbye.

“What was that for?” Tim asked.

Selina smiled teasingly. “Why didn’t you tell me you had a crush?”

“What?!” Tim recoiled, his whole face going beat red. “Kon isn’t- it’s not like that.”

“‘Not like that’ my ass, you are obviously in love with this boy and I haven’t even seen the two of you in the same room yet!” Selina pouted. “I just want to make sure he’s good enough for you.”

Oh he was so doomed.

***

Explaining his conversation with Tim to Cassie was confusing for everyone, but in the end she agreed to handle the Bats and sent Kon to go get Tim.

He was kind of scared of that plan.

Okay, fine. He was kind of scared of Selina.

He had absolutely no idea who she was or how Tim was connected with her, but he had the overwhelming desire to impress her. She’d called herself his mom, but Tim’s mom’s name was Janet and she was out of town so she wasn’t _that_ mom.

And Tim trusted her.

Somehow, with six sentences, Selina had made him more nervous to meet her than he had been to meet Batman.

Then again, he’d only known Batman from what Cadmus had taught him, he knew Selina from what Tim had told him. Which wasn’t much. It was almost nothing actually.

What if she didn’t approve of him? Would Tim stop talking to him if she didn’t like him? Did she know about Superboy? Or that he was a clone? She had threatened to put him on monitor duty and Tim had gone to her after doing… something as Red Robin. So surely she knew about the cape community, hell, maybe she was a hero.

Did she know Batman?

Kon stared at the door. He should probably knock.

He didn’t move.

Tim laughed inside the apartment, causing Kon to smile softly. When had smiling at Tim’s laugh become an automatic reaction?

If this woman could make Tim laugh like that, she couldn’t be bad. Kon finally got the courage to knock.

There were hushed whispers inside the apartment, but Kon tuned them out.

“Hey Kon! How are you? Good, let’s go.” Tim walked out of the apartment, turning Kon around and pushing him back down the hall.

“W-What?”

“Aren’t you going to introduce me to your friend?” Selina’s voice froze Tim in his tracks.

“Damn,” Tim whispered, turning back around. “Selina, Kon. Kon, Selina.”

Kon waved in bafflement. “It’s wonderful to meet you Miss.”

She purred. “Ooh, I _like_ him. Easy on the eyes too.”

“Thank… you?” Kon tried. Now that he was standing still, Kon noticed Tim’s outfit. Considering Selina was right there, he tried to un-notice it, but that was considerably harder.

In front of him, Tim facepalmed. “Selina, Kon is my _friend_ please don’t give him a hard time.”

She pouted. “I just wanted to talk to him kitten. You never bring friends around.”

Now Kon was _really_ confused.

A silent conversation passed between them that Kon couldn’t follow, but he got the feeling Selina was winning.

“Ugh, fine,” Tim whined.

Selina smiled triumphantly. “Knew you’d come around.” Turning her attention suddenly on Kon she asked, “So when did you meet my kitten?”

“We met at,” he glanced at Tim, realizing he had zero knowledge of what this woman knew, “work.”

Tim sighed, taking Kon’s hand and pulling him back into the apartment. “It’s fine, she knows everything.”

“Oh um, I met Tim when he joined the team.”

Selina sat down on her couch, leaning back seductively. Although Kon was getting the feeling that was just how she moved and not intentional. “And how long ago was that?”

“A few years?” Kon said, scratching the back of his neck.

“So you too are friends now?”

“Yeah.” Kon smiled at Tim.

Selina quirked an eyebrow. “Tell me about yourself.”

“Oh, I uh,” Kon was starting to feel like maybe there was something he wasn’t getting here. “I’m half kryptonian, so I was kinda doomed to the whole hero thing.”

Selina laughed. “I know the feeling.”

Tim raised an eyebrow at her. “Selina, I read about the diamond that went missing last week.”

Waving her hand vaguely as if to brush away his words, she explained, “Puh-lease, it’s the most effective way to get Bruce’s attention.”

“Ew!” Tim’s face scrunched up. “I don’t need to hear about that, I’m already scared for life from when I was Robin and walked in on one of your post heist rendezvous.”

Kon smiled fondly at the two of them.

“Oh come on kitten, your friend is hot and a flyer, it’s only a matter of time before-”

“Okay! So we’re just gonna go, but this was fun, and I’ll call you later to let you know I’m alright,” Tim interjected, blushing hard and dragging Kon away.

Selina’s laugh followed them out the door. Tim leaned against against it and groaned. “Sorry about that, Selina can be a lot, but she’s the first friend I ever had.”

“No problem,” Kon said in amusement.

Tim shot him a thankful look and started walking out of the building.

Kon followed behind him. “So how did you meet Selina?”

Tim missed a step, but responded in a level voice. “I broke into her apartment when I was being chased by gang bangers.”

“Excuse me, what!?”

“It’s not as bad as it sounds!” Tim defended. “I was following Robin and Batman and she decided if she didn’t do something, I was gonna get killed so she started looking after me.”

“I honestly don’t even know where to start with that.” Kon looked at Tim questioningly once they made it to the ally.

Tim considered it for a moment before sighing. “We really need to figure out a more dignified way of doing this.” And wrapped his arms around Kon’s neck, letting Kon pick him up.

“But who _is_ she. How does she know about us?” Kon asked.

Tim blushed, his mouth falling open slightly, before he realized what Kon meant. “Oh! Uh, she’s Catwoman. She’s had a… _thing_ with Batman for years. He’s the one that told her our identities.”

“What?” Kon dropped two feet in surprise.

“Watch it!”

“She’s _dating Batman?_ ” Kon was suddenly ten times _more_ scared of Selina. “How does that even work?”

Tim smiled. “Surprisingly well.”

“So she wasn’t joking about getting me stuck on monitor duty then?”

“Nope,” Tim said popping the p.

The flew in silence for a moment. “You know, that actually makes sense. Who else would date a guy who dresses up as a bat except a woman who dresses up like a cat.”

“Yeah,” he said fondly. Smiling at nothing.

“So how’d you end up at her place last night.”

Tim’s head fell against Kon’s chest and he had to forcibly remind himself it was cause Tim was tired not… other reasons.

“Selina’s apartment was the only place I felt safe going. She… she helped a lot. She always has,” he whispered it like a secret against Kon’s chest.

God he was so in love with this boy.

“She sounds amazing,” Kon mumbled.

Tim hummed in agreement. He was going to have a lot to do when they got to the base. Kon could let him relax for now.

“Kon?” Tim asked. “I absolutely refuse to let Cassie see me in this tank top.”

Kon laughed. “Sure thing, birdie.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In addition to the wonderful fluff and support, I'm also totally setting up Catlad. Because I have no sense of subtlety.
> 
> Anyway!
> 
> School just started and is kicking my butt, so updates might be slow? I'm almost out of written chapters soooooooo


	19. Shards of glass

Tim paced until Kon was worried he might wear a hole in the rug.

After grabbing him a change of clothes, they’d beamed to the cave to meet the others, but it was empty.

“I can’t believe they’re all out looking for _me._ ”

Kon sighed, watching the TV more than Tim by then. “To be fair, the team isn’t looking for you, just the Bats.”

Tim groaned, walking over to the wall and resting his head against it. “I don’t understand,” he moaned, enjoying the cool rock against his skin.

“They did think you were going to _kill_ Slade- by the way, thanks again- so their panic might be a little warranted,” Kon said.

As he pulled his head away from the wall to turn and face Kon, Tim hissed in pain, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Something wrong?” Kon drawled.

“No.” He sighed, dropping his hands. “I loved staying at Selina’s, but her couch isn’t exactly the most comfortable. Particularly not in full body armor.”

Kon’s eyes dragged along the slope of Tim’s neck before his friend continued pacing.

“It’s just, how could I allow myself to do something so idiotic? I should have been more clear. I- I let my emotion get the best of me and I didn’t clarify and I let them think I was gonna- I made them _worry_ about me! I had no right to do that! Not ever and especially not after Jason.” Tim was rapidly losing coherency and had already stopped walking. “I would- I could never- but I let them think-”

Tim was cut off by Kon’s voice in his ear. “ _Relax._ ”

He stiffened under Kon’s grip reflexively, but relaxed when Kon squeezed, beginning to massage his shoulders and neck. Any protests he might have been planning came out as a stifled moan.

Trying very hard to think about things that had nothing to do with the sound Tim just made, Kon began speaking. “What happened was not your fault. It was a misunderstanding and it’s _okay._ You’re safe and that’s what matters. That’s what’s going to matter to Dick when he gets back.”

He started to pull his hand away, but Tim choked out, “Just a few more minutes.”

Laughing, Kon continued to dig his thumbs into Tim’s neck, remembering every lesson he’d ever slept through on muscle structure and pressure points.

Tim’s head fell forward, his hair obscuring his face. “God Kon, where did you learn to do that?”

”Where do you think?” Kon whispered, his breath ghosting across Tim’s neck.

“That would be really hot if I didn’t know the answer is my brother.”

His head fell against Kon’s chest as they laughed together, the noise fading slowly into serene smiles that were way two comfortable when Tim was nearly flush against Kon’s front.

“Feelin’ better?”

“Thanks cloneboy.”

And that’s how they were standing when the others walked out of the zeta tube.

“Oh my god.” 

Tim’s body tensed up, as he sprung away from Kon. “We were, uh… it was nothing!”

Kon immediately missed Tim’s warmth, but his blush was almost worth it.

“Tim!”

Before Kon could even comprehend the voice, something purple and gold ran into Tim, forcing him to stumble back several steps.

“I missed you _so_ much.” The purple squeezed him tighter.

Looking frantically back at the others, Kon saw Cassie and Jaime looking on with amusement next to a girl in skin tight black and a full face mask with a bat symbol on her chest and a taller woman in a similar outfit with a different mask and bright red hair.

He shot them a baffled look, but no one said anything.

“You haven’t called me in weeks! You didn’t check in or say hi and then Dick says you’re going to kill Slade?! What the hell! I’m sure he deserves it, but how dare you try and break the one rule without talking to me! I could have talked you out of it, or helped, or bought popcorn.” Kon got the feeling the definitely feminine purple person was intentionally making light of the situation because Cassie had already told her it was a misunderstanding.

“Okay, okay, okay!” Tim gasped, struggling to talk over the girl. “I’m sorry, now will you please let go so you don’t break my ribs and I can greet you properly?”

The girl huffed, but let him go.

“Thank you,” Tim said passive aggressively. For a moment they just glared daggers at each other and Kon started to wonder if maybe they were going to fight.

Which might actually be really hot, Kon considered, finally getting a good look at the girl.

She was built like a vigilante, that was for sure. Even through her purple and black body armour, Kon could make out corded muscle. Her golden hair fell in loose waves around a beautiful face with sharp eyes. Her cowl was pushed back, and fabric pooled around her neck that he had to assume usually covered her nose and mouth.

Just as he was wondering if he’d have to stop their fight or someone else would, Tim stepped forward and pulled the girl into a much softer hug. It caught Kon so off guard, his mouth actually fell open.

He shut it quickly, looking once again back to the group by the zeta, but the Bats seemed totally unsurprised by this strange occurrence. Cassie and Jaime on the other hand looked just as shocked as he felt.

“I… I really missed you Steph. I’m sorry I didn’t call, I just thought you were probably busy training and all,” Tim mumbled, too quietly for anyone but Steph to hear. Unless you had super hearing. Which Kon did.

“Too busy for you? Never,” the girl, Steph, said, hugging Tim closer.

Jealousy twisted in Kon’s gut. Was this Tim’s girlfriend? She was certainly pretty enough and they were certainly close enough.

He racked his brain, trying to remember if he’d ever heard her name or any indication at all that Tim had a girlfriend, but he came up blank.

After several moments of horrified jealous bewilderment, Kon finally cracked. “Who are you people?”

Steph groaned at the interruption, but pulled away all the same. “I’m Spoiler AKA the most awesomest purplest vigilante to ever grace Gotham or anywhere else for that matter,” she said, bowing gracefully and winking at him. “The pretty one is Batgirl, and the intimidating one is Batwoman,” she finished, pointing to the other two Bats.

That description was entirly unhelpful in figuring out which Bat was which, but he had to assume the taller, older looking woman was Batwoman. Cause logic _always_ applied to Bats.

The redhead laughed sharply. “An apt description, but hardly the one I would have made.”

Steph stuck her tongue out. “Anyway, you lovely people can call me Steph. I’ll probably be spending a lot of time around here soon.” She said it casually, as if a team of young heroes got people coming and going all the time. Well, they did, but that wasn’t the point.

There was something about the way she said it, a certain familiarity, that made Kon wonder just how old she was and just how long she’d been wearing a cowl.

“Me too.”

Kon nearly jumped at the voice that seemed to come from nowhere. It was soft and low with just enough scratch to indicate disuse. More based on Steph’s beaming smile and sudden attention than the sound itself, Kon decided it had come from Batgirl, a name he still wasn’t comfortable with.

Everytime he heard it, he looked over expecting to see Barbra’s bright red hair.

“Well I won’t,” Batwoman said bluntly. “So I really need to be going.” She hesitated before crossing the room and hugging Tim. “I’m glad you’re okay. If you ever need me, I’ll be there.”

She paused as she passed Kon, sizing him up briefly. “I can do a lot worse than Slade would have if this one hurts you,” she said casually to Tim before continuing to the zeta and disappearing.

Tim chuckled at Kon’s deeply concerned expression. “She doesn’t mean it. Probably. Maybe. Okay, so she might mean it a little.”

Before Kon could think of a response to _that,_ Steph pulled Tim’s attention away again by grabbing his sleeve. “Tim, what happened! Nightwing didn’t give a lot of details, he just said he was worried you might be looking for revenge against Slade and we needed to find you and talk you down.” As an after thought, she added, “Or find him and beat him into protective custody.”

Sighing Tim rubbed his free hand over his face. “Slade kidnapped Kon and was going to torture him, but I saved him and in the aftermath I may have snapped at Nightwing and implied I was going to get revenge against _Slade_ which is just preposterous, but I can see how it might have sounded like that.”

Steph frowned. “What do you mean against Slade? Was there someone else to get revenge against?”

Kon was kind of curious to know that himself, but before Tim could reply, his phone started playing a melancholy song that Kon didn’t recognize, but kind of liked.

Frowning at the interruption, Tim picked it up, saying, “What’s up Bart?”

Listening in with his super hearing, Kon heard Bart respond, “ _Oh, you picked up, crash! Are you at the cave?_ ”

“Yeah.”

“ _Great, well I located Nightwing and he’s really relieved. He’s also on his way._ ” Tim tensed almost imperceptibly. Steph slipped her hand into his comfortingly and Kon’s gut twisted even further. “ _He already contacted Batman, but he might take a little longer. Nightwing just wanted me to check and make sure you were there, didn’t think you’d pick up if he called._ ”

Tim snorted. “He was probably right. Okay, thanks Bart.”

“ _No problem, her-man-o._ ”

Tim hung up and announced to the room at large, “Bart found Dick and they’re on their way. Batman’s just behind them.”

The heroes closed ranks, gathering close enough to silently offer Tim support without crowding him. Even the knew Batgirl and Steph who had no idea what happened.

“We’re with you Tim,” Cassie told him, holding his gaze and smiling reassuringly.

Tim looked honestly shocked for a moment. He visibly swallowed down questions like _Why?_ and _After what just happened?_ and instead simply said, “Thank you.”

All six heroes swivelled to look at the zeta beam when it lit up. Before Nightwing had even stepped through, Bart appeared between Jaime and Tim with his cowl off, nodding once to Tim in solidarity before facing the beam with the rest of them.

Dick stepped through with a smile brighter than the sun. “Timbo!”

Only silence greeted him, but Tim didn’t let it stretch for too long before he stepped out of the loose circle, taking a deep breath and saying, “We need to talk.”

Finally looking at Dick, all the apologies and grovelling Tim had been carefully crafting for hours fell away. He was still sorry of course, but there were things that needed to be said, and his friends supports gave him the strength to say it.

Dick frowned. “Tim, can we just forget about this? You were angry and that’s fine, there’s no need-”

“No, Dick,” his voice lacked all the ice it had had two days ago, but it was still effective. “We can’t. Cause I wasn’t lying.” The color drained from Dick’s face. “I was angry, yes, and most of what I said was stupid and irrational, but it was also the most honest I’ve been with you in months.”

It probably would have hurt Dick less if Tim _had_ slapped him.

Tim tried hard to remember what he’d read about effective communication of greivencesses. “I… I feel like you don’t care anymore. You threw me out when I needed you most and you replaced me with _Damian._ The brat hates me, but you never seemed to care about that. You never stopped him from insulting me, you barely even did anything when he tried to kill me! And, I get it. Jason calls me replacement, but I was only ever a stand in. _I know_ that, I’ve _always_ known that. But I let myself think that maybe, just maybe, you loved me like a brother and you’d help me when Bruce went missing.”

Swallowing thickly, Tim kept his eyes on Dick, ignoring his captive audience. “But no. You never believed me. You thought I was crazy and you turned me away! Would you have done that to Jason? If he had been your Robin, would you have sent him away for Damian? I doubt it. But then, he’s Jason and I’m just… me.” His shoulders slumped under the weight of his own words. “It’s not like I blame you for that either really, but I do blame you for keeping me on standby. You can’t just string me along anymore like a back up in case Jason dies again or the demon brat bites it somehow. I can’t do that. I need you to admit up front I was a mistake and you never cared, so I can try and pick up the shards of glass my life has always been.”

His words resonated around the silence of the cave, crushing its inhabitants. Kon was frozen in horror, unable to offer any support.

Tim just stood there, waiting for an answer. A star they were all in orbit around, constantly being pulled closer, but kept away at the same time.

“Tim,” Dick choked out. “I- I didn’t mean to throw you out-” Tim cut off that line of defense by raising his eyebrow. Dick sucked in a breath, looking distraught as he tried to come up with something to say. “I do love you, I- I care about you. I only ever wanted what was best for you-”

“What was best for me?!” Tim roared, his anger burning through the hopeless pain he’d slipped into. “I thought I was going crazy, Dick! And even when I found Bruce, you never apologized, you never thought for a second maybe I felt like crap after being told I was insane and just ‘processing’ for weeks! And was it best for me to lose the only stable thing I’ve ever had in my life?! You were the closest thing I had to family Dick! Bruce was gone and I was scared and because of you I was alone!”

He took a step forward. “Did you really think it was best for me to let my best friend die without telling me? Were you ever going to tell me? Or were you planning on telling me Kon had to go to a ranch in the sky and flushing his mutilated body down the toilet? Do you think it’s best for me to be alone every night in a manor big enough to house a small army?” Tim cut himself off, panting heavily.

Kon could see the words on the back of his tongue. The ones that would incriminate his parents and the ones Tim could never- probably had never- said to anyone, just barely caught by the last remnants of his self control.

“You don’t know shit about me Dick, and I can’t remember the last time you did.”

The words hung in the air like a banner, announcing Tim’s pain to his closest friends.

Dick stuttered in confusion, pitifully unable to comprehend the youngers anger, “We- we talk all the time.”

Tim laughed harshly. “ _You_ talk all the time. Think back, when was the last time we had a conversation that wasn’t about a mission or _you_. When was the last time I said anything to you about myself that wasn’t ‘I’m fine.’”

Dick’s face crumpled as he realized he couldn’t come up with a single example.

“Exactly,” Tim snarled.

As the silence stretched on, Dick’s expression got more and more panicked. He couldn’t come up with a response.

Tim wanted it to feel satisfying. He wanted it to be nice to have the man he’d idolized and then slowly come to resent at a disadvantage for once. To speak honestly and finally open Pandora’s box. But he didn’t. He just felt exhausted, and guilt was setting in fast.

The fight seeped out of his stance. “Look. I know you’re probably looking for something to say to rationalize your behavior, and I know if I gave you time you’d be able to. I know, because that’s all I’ve been doing for months. Rationalizing. I’ve come up with every argument in the book in your favor, and honestly, it doesn’t matter how convincing they are because at the end of the day I feel like shit no matter what. So I’m just gonna go. I know this probably means I’m off the team for misbehavior or whatever, but you can’t stop me from being Red Robin somewhere else. I’ll do this alone if I have to, but I couldn’t stay silent any longer.”

Reaching the end of his speech Tim started to turn away.

“You won’t be alone,” Kon said, stepping forward to intercept. “I won’t let that happen.”

“Neither will I,” Steph stepped forward as well, looking distinctly teary eyed, but her voice was strong.

“I won’t,” Batgirl said in that strange, broken, but comforting way of hers.

“We won’t either,” Cassie added, speaking for the three remaining heroes.

“Tim turned to look at them all in surprise. “You would leave the team? For me?”

Kon’s eyes softened. “Without question.”

“Nobody’s going anywhere!” Nightwing ordered. His voice softened considerably as he continued, “Tim, I’m not taking you off the team because _I_ screwed up.”

Dick pulled his mask off as he walked forward, revealing his teary eyes and stopping just in front of the shorter male. “I really do love you. I see now my actions haven’t reflected that, but it’s true and I will tell you everyday for the rest of our lives if it helps you believe. You’re my _brother_ and the way I’ve made you feel is absolutely inexcusable. I- I should have trusted you about Bruce and I shouldn’t have replaced you as Robin. I turned away when you needed me the most. I tried to make you into a pillar to keep me standing when I should have been supporting you.”

Taking a deep breath, Dick plowed on. “I was so ready to accept that you were okay with no further questions that I hurt you and that is unacceptable. I’m sorry. I am so so sorry.” The tears finally fell and he pulled Tim into a bone crushing hug as they landed in his hair. “I don’t deserve you and I don’t deserve forgiveness, but please. I can’t lose you. I want to help you, to listen, to _be better._ ”

Tentatively, Tim brought up his arms and hugged him back. “I don’t know Dick. Our relationship has been damaged for a really long time.”

“I’m willing to do whatever it takes.”

“Even… wear a dollar store stripper version of the Nightwing costume and dance to _Anaconda_ by Nicki Minaj?” Tim asked innocently.

Someone snorted, covering it quickly with their hand, but the dam was broken and seconds later everyone was laughing, including Dick and Tim.

“If that’s what it takes, yes,” Dick said after a moment.

Tim pulled away from him and smiled. “I’ll remember that.”

In a lot of ways, it still wasn’t okay, not by a long shot. But Tim didn’t need ‘okay’. Not yet. Right now, all he needed was ‘getting better’. Right now, he just wanted his brother back. Dick clearly felt bad, so if the quickest way to put this behind them was a well placed butt joke, Tim could roll with that.

“Group hug!” Steph yelled after giving the two a moment to stare at each other awkwardly.

The heroes piled on, pushing Dick and Tim together and enveloping the two of them in a pile of bodies.

Tim laughed, smiling quietly into someone’s hair and wondering how on earth he got so lucky.

Then his phone rang.

 _Stray Cat Strut_ had almost gotten to the end by the time they had finally rolled off of him enough so that he could answer it.

“Hey Cat,” he said, rolling over onto his stomach where he’d ended up on the floor. “How’s it hanging?”

“ _Well, I was worried about you kitten, but you sound purr-fect,_ ” Selina drawled.

Tim laughed. “Yeah I uh… talked to Dick. We’re good. I was actually thinking about taking a catnap.”

“ _Wow,_ ” Selina said in surprise. “ _That was… quick. I’m proud of you, kitten._ ”

Tim grinned ear to ear. Selina always knew just what to say. “It definitely went better than expected. I’ll stop by for brunch Saturday.”

“ _Don’t suppose I can convince you to bring your boy toy?_ ” Selina purred.

Mindful of his audience, Tim buried his head in his arms and said, “Goodbye Cat,” and hung up on a laughing Selina.

“Did you seriously make someone called Cat’s wring tone Stray Cat Strut?” Cassie asked.

Tim blushed. Some of the ring tones he’d picked weren’t really intended to be heard by other people, and certainly not understood.

“Yup, mine is Purple People Eater,” Steph said, pulling Tim bodily to his feet and slinging an arm around his shoulders.

“Your idea, not mine,” he dismissed.

Steph’s gaze softened. “Yeah, I know.”

Originally her song had been _Feelings_ by Hayley Kiyoko, but Steph had decided Purple People Eater was more funny.

“Wait, do we all have ringtones?” Bart asked, smiling slowly.

Tim shrugged wondering how much he was about to say. “Yeah. I assign people ringtones that remind me of them. Saves time and it’s a good exercise in understanding people.”

“What’sJaime’sringtone?” Bart asked immediately.

There wasn’t really a point in lying, so why not? “Jaime’s is _Superheroes_ by the Script.”

“What about Cassie?”

“Duh, _Flawless_ by Beyoncé.”

“Dick?”

“ _Circus_ by Britney Spears.”

“Me?” Cass asked curiously, causing almost everyone to jump.

Tim smiled at her softly. “ _Grand Allegro, I kissed a girl_ by Modern Ballet Class.”

It was the closest Tim had gotten to classical music for anyone except his parents. Something about the way Cass lit up at the ballet convinced him her ringtone had to be reminiscent of classical music, and it had rapidly become the only song of that style he could listen to without… well, thinking of his parents.

Recovering quickly from his shock, Bart asked, “What about me?”

This would be a fun conversation… “ _Home_ by Machine Gun Kelly, X Ambassadors, and Bebe Rexha.”

All eyes swivelled from Tim to Bart. Some in shock, and others (cough Cass cough) hadn’t heard the song and were merely interested.

The hope that maybe Bart hadn’t heard the song and Tim could put off this conversation was shattered when he frowned and said, “Isn’t that a song about-?”

“Originally, yeah, but I think the lyrics apply to you as well,” Tim cut him off, locking eyes with Bart.

Swallowing thickly, Bart smiled nervously. “Never really thought about them like that.”

Tim’s head fell to the side and for a moment his blank expression and slight head tilt reminded Bart of the AI style robots in futuristic movies. “You are a fantastic actor, but you should really work on your lying. You have a lot of room for improvement.”

The blood drained from his face. “I don’t know what you mean.”

Finally, Tim took pity on him and shrugged. “My mistake. I’ll probably change it to _Runnin’ With the Devil_ by Van Halen.”

That got a nervous chuckle out of the others.

Sensing the mood in dire need of saving, Steph inserted herself into the situation. “Timmmmmmy,” she drug the word out in a whine. “We just got back from _China,_ that’s almost as far away as we could possibly get on Earth, talk to me! Tell me about your life, your friends, and more importantly, listen while I tell you every excruciating detail of my training, and also spar with me cause I’ve gotten way better and I think I can take you now.”

“You were training in China?” Cassie asked with interest.

Steph’s gaze locked onto her, sensing weakness. “Well hello there blond, strong, and gorgeous,” she purred. “Why yes, I was training in China with my wonderful teacher.” Then something happened that Tim had never seen before. Steph forgot about her target and turned to smile at Cass like she couldn’t pull her attention away from her.

Odd.

Tim studied the distance between them, the fondness in Steph’s gaze, and the way she seemed to almost be leaning towards Cass.

_Oh._

He smiled. “I think we have _a lot_ to talk about.”

Steph glanced at him guiltily. “Sorry, maybe we should talk about _that_ somewhere private?”

Tim nodded in agreement. “Yeah.”

Kon’s stomach lurched. In private? He’d already been wondering what their relationship was, but that cleared that up. He’d really started to think maybe Tim would consider… 

The new Batgirl was staring him down like she could see through his skin and straight into his soul.

He squirmed beneath her gaze, wondering what exactly it was she could see with that stare. He couldn’t even see her eyes, and she could see his soul.

Moving slowly as if not to frighten a scared animal, she reached up and pulled back her cowl, letting shoulder length black hair fall and deep brown eyes lock with Kon’s. She was pretty, but not in a noticeable way. If he so much as blinked he was scared he’d forget her face.

Slowly, she smiled. It lit up her face and instinctively made Kon want to smile back, so he did. Only then did he notice no one else had noticed her removing her cowl. In fact, nobody else seemed to be able to see her at all.

“Excuse me, what are you two talking about?” Dick asked hopefully. “Are you two getting back together?”

Whatever fragile peace Kon had managed with the new Batgirl shattered and his head snapped to look at Tim.

Steph groaned, rolling her eyes. “I know you have those big bro mother hen instincts, but we told you, we broke up for a reason.”

“But you were so good together,” Dick weedled.

Whatever was currently between them, Tim seemed to decide it was Steph’s story to tell because he was staring fixedly at the floor, avoiding Kon’s gaze.

“Dick, it’s never gonna happen,” Steph assured.

“What? You guys are like my younger siblings and you’re perfect for each other!” Dick smiled like that was somehow an amazing argument.

“For the love of,” Steph glanced towards Batgirl who gave her an encouraging smile and small nod in return.

Without waiting for the rest of the room to catch up with her, Steph walked back over to Batgirl and pulled her into a searing kiss.

Batgirl returned it eagerly, her hands finding Steph’s hair and the small of her back easily and pushing the blonde into a perfect dip. Laughing slightly into the kiss, Steph wrapped her own arms around the other girls neck, pulling them impossibly closer.

They’d clearly done this before, maybe a few times. A sense of relief he was _not_ ready to think about flooded Kon.

Just as the kiss was starting to get _really_ intense and maybe not PG-13 anymore, Batgirl tugged lightly on a few of Steph’s locks and pulled away. She was grinning so wide it looked painful, somehow the exact same and completely different from the innocent smile she’d given Kon earlier.

Steph was grinning right back when she casually intertwined their fingers and finally managed to look away long enough to address the room.

“So yeah,” she croaked. “Tim and I aren’t getting back together.”

Tim and Cassie started clapping and without thought, Kon joined them. Jaime and Bart soon followed, leaving only Dick with his mouth stuck open.

“When did that happen?” he finally managed to ask.

Batgirl shrugged nonchalantly. “China.”

She might be Kon’s new second favorite Bat.

Dick made a distressed noise. “And you didn’t tell me?”

“Duh. We just did,” Steph answered, rolling her eyes.

Groaning, Dick buried his face in his hands, shoulders shaking. Steph frowned in concern, but when Dick pulled away his hands he was laughing. He smiled so wide Kon was worried it might crack his face. He couldn’t remember the last time Dick smiled that genuinely. “I’m happy for you guys.”

Steph smiled tightly. “I hope Bruce agrees with that sentiment.”

“Course he will. He was great about-” Dick’s voice caught, but he swallowed and continued anyway. “He was great about me and Wally. He’ll just be happy you’re happy.”

“Yeah. Your real problem will be convincing the demon brat you’re good enough for his precious sister,” Tim teased.

“Ugh. Is he still hanging around the cave in that edgy, wannabe-emo version of the Robin costume?” Steph whined.

“Yup. He stole his katanas back from Dick too, so he’s probably going to try and kill you when you get home,” Tim said cheerily, happy that for once someone else had the youngest Robin’s ire.

“You’re kidding right?” Bart asked.

Four voices responded at once. “Nope.”

***

Tim wasn’t exactly a social person.

Quite the opposite actually.

People tended to exhaust him. Particularly in large groups without the benefit of a mask to hide behind.

But he was actually enjoying himself.

It was weird.

Tim threw his head back laughing at Steph’s story, she’d somehow gotten even more outgoing in China.

Cass, was talking more. She looked happier, the soft smile never quite leaving her face, her eyes never straying from Steph for too long.

He was happy for them.

He could still remember when Steph had come to him, terrified out of her mind about what it could mean for her to be attracted to girls. They’d gotten through it together.

They’d gotten through a lot together.

With a whoosh of air Bart appeared at his side.

Kon flinched hard, but Cass’ eyes swivelled to him smoothly and Steph didn’t even pause in her story. Kon grumbled something about stupid Bat training, but Tim ignored him.

Bart tugged on Tim’s sleeve lightly to get his attention. “Can I talk to you for a second?”

Tim glanced at him. His mouth was a little too tight, the crease between his eyebrows a little too prominent. “Yeah okay,” he said slowly, excusing himself from the conversation and letting Bart pull him away from the group.

Tugging on his sleeves, Bart’s eyes darted around as he tried to find the right words. “How did you know?” he finally said.

Tim sighed. He’d been expecting this. “Honestly, I knew almost from the beginning.” Bart stiffened. “But… I trust you.” When had that gotten so easy for him to say?

“I’m not going to tell anyone and I’m not going to push you for the truth. You saved our asses more times than I can count and I know lesser men would have taken the easy route and just killed him. It has to be hard for you to look at him in that suit every day and _not_ slide a knife through his ribs. Not to mention how easy it would be for you to make it look like an accident, so I respect you for getting us through the invasion the hard way and because of it, I’ll leave your demons to you.”

Bart’s eyes sparkled with something that was _not_ tears because Tim wouldn’t know how to deal with that.

“But you shouldn’t have to go through this alone. I know I’m the last person anyone should take lessons on mental health from, but the team will support you. No matter what. All you have to do is reach out to us, just ask for help. Be honest and we’ll do everything we can to help. You shouldn’t bottle this up, cause trust me, I know better than anyone that this stuff can isolate you more effectively than walls ever could.”

Tim felt a piece of his heart breaking.

“I’m here for you too, all you have to do is ask, but I know I’m not exactly good at this stuff and I’m certainly not a comforting presence so I’m begging you, please tell someone. Anyone. Just, don’t go through it alone.”

Bart worriedly asked, “You’re not gonna-”

“No. This is your past and these are your demons. It wouldn’t be my place to speak for you, so your secret is safe. I won’t tell anyone.” Tim promised.

Bart was quiet for a long time. “Thank you.”

Tim nodded placing a hand on Bart’s shoulder and squeezing.

Bart fell into him, hugging him tightly and burying his face in Tim’s shoulder.

It took Tim a moment to react, but when he finally moved, he clung to Bart carefully, enjoying the feeling of another person in his arms. Of being held and holding someone.

Finally Bart sniffed, pulling away from Tim and smiling weakly.

“I guess we’re all a little more broken than we pretend to be.”

Tim glanced around the room, taking in Kon and Dick still listening to Steph with Cass looking on and Jaime blushing at something Cassie had said. His friends. All together, all safe, all happy. They hadn’t saved the world or stopped an apocolypse, but it still felt like a victory. Like something monumental was happening between the seven of them. Something that couldn’t be quantified or explained. A moment of peace they’d all remember, no matter what.

“Maybe one day we won’t be.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so, between this chapter and the next, I wrote a mini Bluepulse fic that isn’t necessary to this story, but fills in some gaps with Bart and Jaime’s relationship as well as expanding upon the topics Tim brought up about Bart in this chapter. I’m going to put it in a series with this one, so hopefully it will be easy to find. That will probably be up tomorrow night around this time unless school decides to screw me over.


	20. Family where it counts

Jason Todd had spent most of his second life hating everyone.

Bruce, Dick, the world… but possibly the person he felt the guiltiest about hating was Tim Drake.

On quiet nights when there was nothing to punch and no one to be pissed off at but himself, when it felt like the world was holding its breath and Jason was left alone with his thoughts, he sometimes remembered exactly what he’d done.

A lot of memories came with those nights, but one of the most frequent was a lithe boy, fifteen and small for his age, pressed against Jason’s chest with a knife to his throat.

Sometimes the memory was so vivid, Jason could smell Tim’s blood. He remembered the weight of the knife in his hand, the pressure of pushing it against Tim’s neck just enough to draw a few beads of blood, enough that Bruce could see that blood from several feet away at night. He remembered the blinding rage and the way the whole world had been tinted lime green. The way he’d been shaking with the restraint it took not to water his own grave with Tim’s blood.

Those nights were the hardest.

Those nights were why Jason ran with a team now, but not Tim’s team. He could never go back to Young Justice after what he did. What he was still doing.

The best thing he could do was staying away from Tim. From all of them. He’d already done enough damage, he couldn’t risk doing more.

So when Dick called him, he didn’t pick up, but Roy did.

It was Tim.

Is he alright?

Maybe. I don’t know. No.

What happened?

He left. I-I messed up. He’s gonna kill Slade.

Has he got a death wish?!

Even if he lives, he’ll have killed a man.

... 

I know you guys kill, but Tim doesn’t. It would break him.

I’ll talk to Jason.

The first thing Jason thought, was that it was all his fault. He immediately corrected himself, Tim was his own person with his own teenage rebellion going on, it wasn’t necessarily because Jason had traumatized him or set a bad example or made good points about the practicality of killing without mentioning how it stained your soul a color that made mirrors hurt worse than bullets.

But even if it wasn’t his fault, there was no way he was gonna let what happened to him happen to Tim.

The kid just didn’t deserve to die like that, (Jason refused to think about if _he_ deserved to for what he’d become.) which was why in the middle of the afternoon when the lazy heat made the perfect beach day, the Outlaws were racing across the country looking for a single kid among millions.

They questioned bad guys, checked to see if they could find anything out from the mercenary community, went to all of Tim’s safe houses (At least the ones they knew about. Tim _was_ a Bat after all.) and did everything else they could think of until the next morning Dick called them saying Tim had come home. He’d never killed Slade, and he’d never intended to. It was a misunderstanding.

Jason scoffed and grumbled his annoyance at how they’d wasted a day to cover up how relieved he was. He wondered what it meant that he kind of wanted to _see_ Tim to make _sure_ he was okay, wanted to ask for more details.

It didn’t matter. Jason wasn’t about to act on any of that. Tim wouldn’t want to see him anyway. They weren’t family. They weren’t even friends.

That should have been that. Mission accomplished, replacement found, no assassin’s were harmed in the making of this comic, but Jason hadn’t gone home. Instead he’d sent Kori and Roy that way and he’d driven as fast as he could towards the person he wanted to see the least in the world.

Bruce.

One would think it’s be the Joker, but at least if Jason was seeing the joker, he’d be able to out a few bullets through him. There was no satisfaction in seeing Bruce, but Jason went anyway because something the kid had said on the beach weeks ago was playing in his head on a loop.

_But anyone can make a kid feel like that. It’s what love is. Throwing yourself into the fire just so someone will be proud when you burn._

Jason knew exactly what Tim meant. And he also knew that if Bruce went back to that boy and yelled at him for scaring everyone, it would break Tim.

So Jason asked Bruce to talk and like the sucker he was, Bruce allowed it.

“Whatever you’re about to go say to that kid, don’t.”

Bruce stared at him, the strangest mix between a glare and relieved bewilderment Jason had ever seen.

“What?” His voice didn’t seem quite as deep as it usually was, but Jason might have been imagining it.

“What are you planning on saying to Tim?”

Bruce was quiet for a long time. “I don’t know yet.”

“Well when you figure it out, it better be ‘I’m glad you’re okay and I love you.’” The words felt awkward in Jason’s mouth. To kind. To honest.

Bruce seemed to agree with him, shifting awkwardly on his feet ever so slightly. “That hardly seems necessary.”

Jason’s temper flared. “It is. It really is. That kid thinks the world of you and if you go in there yelling at him about the no kill rule and beating him to a pulp for threatening someone when he didn’t even kill anyone instead of being happy he’s okay, he’ll never forgive you. Worse, he might never forgive himself.”

They were brushing dangerously close to memories that were better left buried.

“I-I would never do that.” Bruce stuttered, he actually _stuttered._ “Do you really think that’s what I was going to… ?” Bruce trailed off, seeing Jason’s answer in the set of his jaw and the murderous glint in his eye.

The Dark Knight swallowed hard, staring it his second son and wishing things hadn’t gone so wrong. “I’ll tell him.”

Jason stared him down for a long time while he reined in his temper, pushing back the green tinge on the edge of his vision and the roaring in his ears.

Maybe he was still in the mood for a fight, or maybe he was just covering up his ulterior motives- it was getting harder and harder to tell these days- because he said, “Do you even know what happened? Why little bird was in a situation where he’d _want_ to kill Slade?”

Bruce stiffened. “Slade kidnapped the clone. Conner.” he added the name like he didn’t think Jason would remember it.

He remembered it.

Conner had never liked him, actively avoided him actually. (Or maybe it had just seemed that way to Jason) Probably because the combination of their tempers was bound to start fights. Or maybe it was just cause Kon was still moody about his girlfriend and didn’t have time for _another_ Robin.

But more recently Jason remembered the way Conner had hesitated, like it was a hard choice between knocking out a warehouse full of people shooting at him and protecting Tim from Jason.

And then later, staring at them from a respectful distance with worry written all over his face.

He remembered Conner just fine.

“Heroes get kidnapped all the time,” Jason ground out. He’d already pieced together what happened, the question was had the world’s greatest detective?

Bruce looked away. “Slade sent a video ransom note that was… disturbing. I suspect his wording was intended to directly call out Tim. And Dick hid the whole thing from Tim for several hours.”

Of fucking course he did. That bird brained, acrobatic, son of a _bat!_

“Do you agree with that decision?” Jason’s question held a dangerous edge.

“Yes.” Bruce either didn’t hear it or didn’t care. “Tim was with his family. He needs to have that peaceful time while he can still get it.” Of course. Bruce’s parents were dead, so Dick shouldn’t tell Tim his best friend is missing. Gotta love Bat logic.

Wait.

His parents? Tim still had parents?

If he’d thought about it for more than two seconds, he might have pieced that together, but the idea of a Robin who still had two loving parents was just so foreign Jason had never stopped to consider it. Plus Tim’s words on the beach sure as hell hadn’t sounded like a healthy child with parents who know what love is.

Something was very wrong with the Drake household.

“Have you met Tim’s parents?” Jason wasn’t sure why he cared, it wasn’t his problem.

Shrugging Bruce answered, “A few times at parties. Maybe a charity gala.”

“What were they like?” Jason was edging into very dangerous territory. Bruce was getting suspicious.

“Polite and charming. They were all too eager to show Tim off.” Bruce’s frown twitched into what was almost a smile for half a second. “It was almost comical to be introduced to Tim as Bruce Wayne around so many oblivious socialites.”

Jason pushed just a little further. “Did anything strike you as off about them?”

Bruce was quiet for a minute as he replayed the memory. “They did seem a little too interested in getting me to like Tim. Leaving him alone with me, insisting I address them all by their first names, telling him to smile, talking about how well behaved he was, asking a few… _strange_ personal questions, but nothing I don’t usually get from that crowd. They probably just wanted to get me interested in doing business with them.”

Shit. They couldn’t be… ?

No. That would be crazy. Just cause crazy rich people acted like pimps didn’t mean they were actually creeps. He was probably reading too much into this.

Stil… “Watch them. Something ain’t right there.”

Bruce frowned. “The Drakes are upstanding citizens, I’ve done background checks on both and neither-”

“Not all bad people get their sins put down on paper,” Jason said, cutting Bruce off. “Just, keep an eye out.”

That was enough caring for one day. Jason was done with feelings and that weird tugging sensation in his gut that flared up whenever he heard about Tim being in trouble.

He turned around and left.

“Wait,” Bruce called, but Jason just kept walking.

“Don’t fuck this up Bruce. You’ve already lost one son, don’t be the reason you lose another.” 

***

Bruce was still off balance from seeing Jason when he got to the cave.

For a moment no one noticed his arrival, or at least, no one acted on it right away. The teenage heroes kept laughing and talking amongst themselves. Bruce made note of several things in quick succession.

Dick was sitting on the same couch as Tim, but they were seperated by Cass and Steph.

Cass and Steph were back from China.

Steph was telling a story and almost certainly corrupting the newer heroes.

Cass had an arm slung around Steph’s shoulders.

Kid Flash, Blue Beetle, and Wonder Girl were all sitting on the ground facing the couch.

Superboy was sitting way too close to Tim, his body turned towards him, and his arm slung across the back of the couch behind Tim’s shoulders.

Steph reached the punchline of her joke and the heroes burst out laughing. Cass took the opportunity to lean closer and whisper in Steph’s ear.

The blond whipped around to look at Bruce, something almost like fear on her face that made Bruce’s stomach clench before it evened out into a bright smile.

“Brucie!” she called in greeting, making no move to stand up.

Tim stiffened, posture suddenly going rigid, chin lifting, and fingers digging into the fabric of his sweatpants. Looking at his friend with concern, Kon tried to discreetly move his arm and shift away ever so slightly, but the movement made Tim’s hand suddenly move to Kon’s knee, I silent plea for him to stay close, so Kon did.

Bruce tried to smile at Steph, but it felt more like a grimace. “Hello Stephanie. Cass. It’s good to see you girls back from China.”

Cass turned to give him a bright smile, waving one hand in greeting. How could Bruce not smile at her?

This more genuine smile seemed to be Dick’s cue to speak up. “Hey Bruce. What took you so long?”

“Jason actually wanted to talk to me.”

Dick froze, shooting a glance at Tim.

“What’d he say?” asked a voice so quiet Bruce almost didn’t hear it.

Bruce’s gaze swivelled to the back of Tim’s head. “Just that he’s glad you’re okay.”

“Oh.” Tim finally turned around on the couch to face Bruce.

His brow was drawn and he was biting his lip so hard it was white. Bruce could see how white his knuckles were from gripping the back of the couch.

Jason was right.

Tim was absolutely terrified.

Pulling off his cowl, Bruce took a few steps forward in the most non threatening way he could, trying to show his relief with every movement.

When he was right in front of Tim he got down on his knees so they were eyes to eye and hugged Tim as best he could with his limited experience and the couch in the way.

“I’m glad you’re okay.”

Error; Tim.exe has stopped working.

What the hell??

He was expecting a scolding, definitely to be benched, and probably punished physically somehow too, but this? Bruce was… hugging him? And Jason was glad he was okay?

Had he wandered into the twilight zone?

Finally Tim came to his senses, awkwardly reaching up to pat Bruce on the back because he couldn’t quite get his arms around the older man with the weird angle.

Bruce pulled away, his hands still on Tims shoulders, to just look at his son- protegee, his eyes roaming over Tim, searching for any injuries.

“But I made you guys think I was going to kill Slade,” Tim croaked. “I was careless and emotional and I messed up.”

A maelstrom of emotions welled in Bruce’s chest and he let every one of them shine through on his face. “I trust you to do what’s right, what’s important is that you’re okay.”

Tim stared at Bruce with wide watery eyes, his mouth slightly open. Somehow, it made him look younger, like the boy who had first showed up at Bruce’s doorstep, wide eyed and in awe.

Swallowing thickly, Tim forced out the only words he could. “Thank you.”

Not thinking about their captive audience of the many cameras that were recording his every move, Bruce smiled tentatively, pulling Tim in for another hug.

Something told him Tim needed more hugs. Might as well start now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the relatively long time between updates, school it killing me and this chapter in particular was giving me trouble. Something about writing Bruce is hard for me?? Not saying it's because he's old, but.... jk.
> 
> Anyway, I'll try to post the next one as soon as possible to make up for it cause I already have that one written.


	21. Venus

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning for rape and sexual assult, please read responsibly. (I don't have any personal expirience with it so I apologize for any inaccuracies in my portrayal.)

“Tim, I don’t think you understand, I am _scarred for life._ ”

Tim rolled his eyes, spinning around in his desk chair mindlessly and wishing his friends would stop overreacting so he could just go to the cave and talk to Kon in person. “It couldn’t have been _that_ bad.”

Kon audibaly shuddered. “It was.”

“Okay, what actually happened?” Tim asked, finally caving to Kon’s dramatics.

“So I was looking for Bart, right? He’s usually pretty loud, and I hadn’t seen him in hours, so I went to his room and he sounded like he was in pain so I just opened the door.” Kon paused for dramatic effect and Tim _almost_ laughed. “Worst. Mistake. Of my life. I don’t even know where Jaime’s hands were, and I don’t want to! I swear, Bart has never been that red. The only kindness left in this world is that he’s a seedster and slammed the door in my face.”

Tim couldn’t breathe he was laughing so hard. “Oh my god!” he gasped, falling out of his chair, only barely managing to hold on to his phone.

Naturally when Tim had suggested Bart talk to someone, he’d hoped that would be the nudge the two of them needed to finally get their heads out of their asses, but he’d never dreamed it would work _this_ well.

“This is serious Tim! My innocence is ruined! _Their _innocence is ruined!” Kon tried to hold onto his serious tone, but he was dissolving into laughter too.__

Gasping for air, Tim croaked, “At least they weren’t naked right?”

“The were damn near close!” Kon yelled. “Tim, I’m going to have to _talk_ to them about this! I am chronologically six years old! I’m not ready to make sure two horny teenagers got the sex talk from their parents.” Tim could sense Kon freezing in horror. “Oh my god, does Bart have anyone to give him the talk? Do you think Barry will do it? That’s not my job right?! _I_ never even got the talk! How am I supposed to give it to someone else?”

Tim started laughing harder. “So you’re telling me, you can't have sex for another ten to twelve years? And you need to get the talk from Superman first?”

 _ _“I meant- I’m not actually-” Kon spluttered, trying to find a response to that. “I just meant I didn’t want to see _Bart and Jaime_ doing that. I don’t need the sex talk from _Clark,_ Cadmus taught me… you know, about that stuff.” Tim could perfectly picture Kon’s blush.

“Still, it’s great the Bart and Jaime finally wised up and-” Tim’s lewd comment was cut off by the doorbell ringing.

Why was the doorbell ringing? The doorbell at Drake Manor never rang when his parents weren’t home. Even the maid just let herself in.

Sensing his sudden alertness Kon asked, “Tim? Is everything alright?”

“Uh, yeah,” Tim answered distractedly, pulling himself off the floor and running to the stairs. He may not know what was going on, but he had manners, and it was impolite to leave someone on the doorstep. Sliding down the banister he told Kon, “There’s someone at the door. Not sure why or who, but I should probably go get rid of them.”

“Do you want to call me back?” Kon asked, suddenly serious.

Tim thought about it. “Nah, stay on the line. This could be trouble.”

Reaching the door, Tim peeked through the window. Well. It wasn’t what he was expecting.

Pressing his phone into his shirt to indicate he was on a call, Tim fixed a polite smile on his face and pulled open the door. “Hello. How can I help you?”

For once, Tim couldn’t figure out much from just looking at her. She looked around his age but it was hard to tell. Her shiny black hair fell loose over bare shoulders, framing her impossibly perfect figure and accentuating her curves. When she saw Tim, she smiled, showing off two rows of perfectly straight teeth that contrasted beautifully with her dark unblemished skin.

“Hello, Tim.”

Alarm bells went off in every corner of his mind. It wasn’t just his name, anyone could have known that. There was just something wrong with the girl. Her eyes were too sharp, her smile too wide. Her voice too pleasant.

Tim considered slamming the door in her face, but he wasn’t the world’s second best detective for nothing, so instead he channeled every lesson he’d ever learned about how to seduce a client. “You seem to have me at a disadvantage, Miss… ?”

The girl’s eyes twinkled. “Tim!” she said mischievously. “How could you forget our night in Budapest? I’m sure I never will, but then you might have been more out of it than I was.” She frowned apologetically. “I’m so sorry about grandfather, he had no right to act like that. Although I have no complaints since it led to us meeting.” She winked at him.

Oh shit. He hadn’t expected her to cash in so soon. Not looking away from the girl, Tim spoke into his phone, “Kon, I’m gonna have to call you back.”

“Wait, Tim-”

He hung up, using his phone to turn on the meta hearing blockers he’d set up, before slipping it into his pocket.

The girl smiled impossibly wider. “May I come in?”

“That depends, does Thalia plan on making her request in person, or are you here so she won’t have to?” He asked.

“What gave me away?”

Tim quirked an eyebrow. “Should I start with the obvious jab at the base I attacked in Budapest, or your mention of ‘grandfather’?” _Or your eyes?_

“Talia said you’d figure it out before I could have any fun.” The girl pouted.

Tilting his head to the side, Tim asked, “And what exactly does your idea of ‘fun’ include?”

“I was hoping you might actually believe you knocked me up and forgot about it.”

“I don’t hook up with random women, sorry.”

“Men always say that, but no one’s ever sent me away.” Sighing she continued, “I suppose that ruins the point of Thalia sending me as a thank you.” The girl’s hand ran casually along her side drawing attention to her outfit.

Tim purposefully held her gaze for a moment before dragging his eyes along her body. She really was gorgeous, and her outfit was designed to show off every asset she had.

Returning his gaze to her face he smiled as apologetically as he could. “You’ll have to pass my apologies along to Thalia, I appreciate the thought, but you aren’t my type.”

The girl’s eyebrows raised in disbelief. “And your type is… ?”

“Men.”

“Oh.” She looked genuinely surprised for a moment. She clearly wasn’t used to being turned down when putting that offer out.

“So are you going to tell me Thalia’s request or are you going to take me off into the sunset to talk to her in person?” Tim asked sweetly.

Her eyes narrowed, but she didn’t rise to the bait. “She wants info. Anything that could give her an edge, but specifically, bases and his client list.”

Tim pursed his lips. “Consider it done. How should I deliver?”

“I will bring you to Thalia when you’ve obtained the information.”

Laughing Tim shook his head. “If the Al Ghul's didn’t all have sticks up their asses I’d say you’re joking, but they do so I assume you’re seriously planning on staying with me until I do this.”

She smiled wider which seemed to be her default reaction. Smiling in different shades of fake. “Thalia wants to keep an eye on you. She thinks you’re dangerous.”

Tim leaned against the doorway, crossing his arms smugly in a way that he knew showed off the wiry muscles in them. “And what do you think?”

The girl snorted derisively. “I think Thalia just handed off an impossible task to a rich boy with some fancy toys.”

Tim smirked. He loved being underestimated. It was so much fun to watch their faces when he proved them wrong.

“But Thalia wants to keep an eye on you, so I’ll be staying until you’ve got the information.”

Raising an eyebrow, he pushed his luck a little further. “So you’re a babysitter?”

“Are you saying you want me near children?”

Point mystery woman.

“But no. I’m afraid I’m only a courier. However you go about fulfilling her request, I can wait here.”

Tim squinted at her. “You do know I have parents right? That live here?”

“Parents that are never home?” she countered. “And would you prefer I wait with your team? The detective’s other prodigies?”

Tim winced. “Yeah no. How about a hotel?”

She raised an eyebrow.

“Fine,” he conceded. “You can stay here, but if my parents find out, I will watch my mother feed you to a shark.” _And then toss me to the wolves._

“Got it. You’ll never even know I’m here.” She stepped forward to enter the house, but Tim put up a hand to block her entry.

“If I’m going to let you in, I need a name. Don’t care if it’s fake, just give me something.”

For a moment she stared into his eyes, amusement clear on her face. He glared. “Fine. Call me… Venus.”

“Cheeky.” Tim let his arm fall.

Now he had to babysit a League prostitute while doing the impossible. This was just… _fantastic._

“Kitchen’s down the hall on the right,” Tim called, muttering curse words under his breath.

Venus’ heels clicked menacingly as she walked away from him, making Tim flinch as he thought of his mother.

He was going to have to figure this out fast. In the meantime he ran upstairs to grab a bundle of clothes.

“Here.” He strolled into the kitchen, tossing the bundle at her. “You look uncomfortable.”

Catching the clothes she blinked at him. “What?”

“You’re outfit. It looks like it's trying to strangling you.”

Venus slowly looked down at her outfit, frowning. “It actually is really uncomfortable, but I wasn’t exactly expecting to stay in it for very long.”

Venus started unzipping her dress.

“Woah, woah, woah,” Tim said, looking away from her. “There’s a bathroom down the hall.”

“You’re gay and I get naked for a living,” she pointed out. The rustling of fabric indicated she was still changing.

Sighing, Tim decided it wasn’t worth the argument and just waited.

“You can turn around now,” Venus said in amusement.

She looked startlingly different without the facade.

He’d given her his baggiest shirt he had to hide the fact she wasn’t wearing a bra (he wasn’t an idiot, that dress had left no room for a bra) and sports shorts that were balanced precariously on her hips like they might fall off any minute. She almost looked human.

She rolled her eyes at his expression. “What? Did you think I always looked like that?”

“I’m not used to seeing anyone from the League… comfortable.”

Shrugging, she tossed her hair over her shoulder and said, “You offered. It’s within the rules for me to take you up on it.” She smiled wickedly, completely different from her smiles earlier. “Besides, I can always tell Thalia you have a fetish for baggy clothing.”

Tim snorted. “With all the leather I wear in costume, do you really think she’d believe that?”

Venus laughed. It wasn’t the tinkling sound he was expecting, rather a far more down to Earth snort. “Careful, you know how Thalia feels about your mentor. Don’t want her to draw _that_ comparison.” Her smile fell as she spoke.

“I’ve already got Ra’s pulling that thread, even Thalia wouldn’t enter a sex triangle with her own father.” Tim joked, walking towards Venus in order to start the coffee maker.

She was staring at him, which made this the perfect opportunity to-

Venus gasped, keeping very still lest the knife slit her throat.

“Interesting,” Tim observed, shoving her away and returning the knife to it’s holder. “Why didn’t you protect yourself?”

Rubbing her throat and strategically moving away from him, Venus flicked up an eyebrow, keeping an impressive poker face in the wake of having a knife against her jugular. “Why do you think?”

He leaned against the counter, crossing his arms and letting his head list to the side. “Your part of the League of Assassins, surely they taught you to fight.”

Something shifted in Venus. “Why would they teach _property_ how to defend itself?” she snarled. “The point of my existence is to be submissive. Knowing I could kill my client would turn them off, and I’m expendable anyway, so why should I know how to protect myself?”

Tim’s face went carefully blank. “So what is it exactly you do for the League?”

Her eyes narrowed dangerously. “I deliver messages, I spy and gather intel from people who underestimate me.”

“And?”

“And I provide my services at Thalia’s request to people she thinks earned them.” The line was too eloquent to be something she came up with in the moment. It was a definition fed to her by someone.

“I’m… ” Tim had no idea how to handle this situation and it showed. “Sorry.”

“Sorry?” Venus growled, telling Tim that he’d definitely done the wrong thing. “Don’t presume to understand. How am I supposed to believe you’re ‘sorry’ when none of you self proclaimed heroes ever did a damn thing to help me or mine? I don’t want your pity.” And he finally saw the truth behind Venus’ lie. She was angry. She was angry about what had been done to her and how unfair it was. She was angry because she was trapped, and there was nothing she could do about it.

“I walk down the hallway and I get called a slut. For my first two years, anyone in the League could request my services. Do you know what that’s like? To be held down by someone twice your size and forced to pretend to like it? To wake up with bruises from teeth and fists? To cover them up with make up and smile at the person who caused them the next day? To be talked about like a fancy watch and handed off like a product?” Venus’ eyes watered with rage. It occured to Tim that this was probably the first chance she’d ever gotten to let this all out. She wasn’t in control right now, if she was, she would of held it back.

Tim’s voice came out deadly quiet and far too conversational. “Actually, I do.”

Venus froze.

He’d never told anyone about that. Not Selina, not Bruce, not Kon, not even Steph or Dick.

“Who?” she whispered, her anger fading quickly.

He should stop this conversation now before he said something he’d regret.

“Jeffrey Thadaleus. John Quinn. Robert Fennel. Ian Frederick. Brian Smith. Lucy Marino. Cole Garwhich… ” The list went on.

Tim prided himself on his good memory, but there were some things better left forgotten. So no, he didn’t remember all their names. Only the interesting ones.

“You’d be wise to stop presuming you know things about me. First rule of gathering intelligence, never make assumptions.” He couldn’t stay here and have this conversation.

Already images of darkened bedrooms and leering smiles were sneaking out of their carefully separated compartments to flood his mind.

He pushed off the counter, walking past Venus and towards the stairs. He paused in the doorway throwing over his shoulder, “And you can go ahead and tell Thalia that too. Even if she believes you you’ll never find any proof.” It sounded hopeless, even to him.

He didn’t wait for a reaction before vanishing into the depths of the house.

***

_Fingers dragged along his body, pushing too hard, jerking too fast. Handcuffs bit into his wrists tight enough to hurt, but loose enough not to cut. He couldn’t move. Teeth bit his skin and murmured words made him want to sob._

Tim scrubbed until his skin burned, trying to wash away the feeling of phantom hands on his skin.

He’d let himself get too close to the pit he’d shoved those memories into. He’d been inching closer for days, staring it down, but keeping his distance. Today he’d gone too far. Venus had pulled him towards it like a siren, dragging the memories up.

Something about her… she was League, he shouldn’t trust her, but she understood something none of his friends ever would.

But in a few days, Venus would return to the League and that life. _Tim_ would be sending her back to that life.

Tim knew in an instant he wouldn’t be doing that. Venus didn’t deserve that. No one did.

Shutting off the water, he towelled off, tying it around his waist and stepping out of the bathroom.

Venus’ head snapped up at the sound of the door opening, making the messy top knot she’d piled her hair into bob amusingly. She’d probably taken a hair tie from the desk beside her.

Tim sighed, ignoring her in favor of walking towards the closet.

“I’m sorry,” Venus said abruptly. “I didn’t know… I shouldn’t have snapped at you like that.”

Tim slowly turned towards her, staring at her incredulously. She was apologizing? To him? After he’d-

Coffee.

The smell hit Tim like a dump truck, drawing his attention to the cup Venus was cradling in her hands and the matching one on a coaster beside her.

“You brought me coffee?” he asked, his voice falling flat with confusion and surprise.

Venus frowned, caught off guard by the sudden shift in topics. She glanced back at the cup then back at him “Uh, yeah. You started the pot but you left before you could have any so I poured you a cup. I wasn’t sure how you took it, so I brought it up black, but I can run down and get cream and sugar if you… want.”

Before she could even finish, Tim had crossed the room and was gulping down the already cooling drink.

What exactly did it say about him that the coffee made him feel more human and grounded him better than anything she could have said?

After a moment, he set down the still half full cup with an appreciative sigh and looked over at Venus’ amused smirk. “Thank you.”

Her eyes widened slightly and he could tell she wasn’t used to such genuine praise. “You’re… welcome.”

A moment of only slightly awkward silence passed between them before Tim said, “Getting the information is going to take some digging. I hope it’s alright if I keep you here a few days.”

An olive branch.

A safe haven from grabby men with too much money and no morality.

He would extend her stay as long as he could, even though, he could already feel the slight buzz in his body that told him he was close to cracking a case, all the pieces were there they just needed to come together to form a whole.

But he was offering her time.

Venus smiled slowly. “Yes, I think a few days will be just fine.”

Tim smiled. “Brilliant.”

He had another reason for keeping her for so long. He needed the time to make a plan that would free her from Thalia.

He was just considering telling her that when the doorbell rang, making the decision for him.

“Now who is it?” he asked in exasperation.

Venus raised an eyebrow, looking pointedly at his towel. “I can go get rid of them for you.”

Before he could think better of it, Tim nodded. “Thanks. I’ll get dressed and meet downstairs in a moment.”

Venus stood gracefully and swept from the room, exciting like a queen. Tim made a note to ask for some pointers later.

In the meantime, he finally made it to the closet, pulling on underwear and a pair of baggy sweatpants that hung low on his hips as he hopped to the window in his room, peering over the ledge to see who was at the door.

There wasn’t a car parked out front. That was odd.

Leaning further he could just make out a flash of purple and blond next to a black t-shirt with short black hair… 

Wait a minute.

“ _Fuck._ ”

Tim raced out of his room and down the stairs, sliding down the banister and hopping off early, nearly tripping over the ends of his sweatpants and pulling them even further down his hips.

But he was too late.

“Hello, my name is Venus, can I help you with something?”

The door was already open. They’d already seen her.

Steph’s head popped into view as she peered into the house.

And now they’d seen him.

She made a face somewhere between anger and shock, before Venus subtly shifted her stance to block Steph’s gaze.

“We’re friends of Tim’s actually and we just came to check on him actually,” Steph said, venomously sweet.

Tim winced, but walked forward anyway, coming to stand beside Venus and forcing a smile on his face that looked more pained than hospitable. “Hey guys.”

Without missing a beat, Venus leaned into him, nothing outrageous, but enough to send an obvious message.

Welp.

That was one way to handle this.

Kon stiffened, his eyes flicking between them so fast they threatened to blur, but Steph just stared at Tim, something almost like betrayal on her face.

“What’s going on?” Tim asked, trying to move the conversation along so they would just leave already and save him some embarrassment.

Both of the heroes on his doorstep floundered for another couple minutes before Kon managed to pull himself together. “What’s going _on_? You hung up on me out of nowhere! I was scared something happened to you!”

Tim winced. “Sorry about that. Didn’t mean to make you worry, Venus just caught me off guard.”

Steph laughed murderously. “That much is obvious.”

The wind shifted and goose bumps rose over Tim’s bare-

Shirt. He’d forgotten a shirt.

No, he hadn’t forgotten a shirt, Venus was wearing his.

Tim crossed his arms over his chest in an effort to cover up, suddenly remembering the morning after he’d slept in Kon’s bed when he’d been in a similar state of undress. He’d thought it couldn’t get worse than that. He should have known by now to never even _think_ that.

“Uh,” he said dumbly, searching for something to say.

Sensing his total blank out Venus stepped in smoothly, trading in her puzzled frown for a radiant smile. “Oh of course! You must be Stephanie! Tim mentioned you.” She extended her hand for Steph to shake, leaning forward just enough for the neckline of her shirt to dip and show just a hint of cleavage.

Oh she was good.

Steph blinked at Venus, seeming to fully register her for the first time. She looked down at Venus’ hand before taking it numbly.

“And you are?” Venus asked politely, batting her eyelashes at Kon.

He glared at her harder. “Kon.” He didn’t shake her offered hand.

Venus stepped back, almost directly into Tim who took the hint and uncrossed his arms, instead wrapping them around her in a way that he hoped looked natural.

Kon’s eyes narrowed impossibly more and his mouth got impossibly tighter.

“I’m so sorry for any inconvenience I might have caused, Tim’s an old friend and I was in town, so I stopped by to catch up. We don’t see each other much so I understand why he might not have mentioned me.”

Steph’s eyes flicked between them sharply, but she plastered a smile onto her face. “Not at all. We just wanted to make sure Tim’s okay. You two are clearly busy… catching up.”

She shot Tim a sharp look that told him they _would_ be discussing this later and started pulling Kon away. “Bye.” She waved vaguely over her shoulder and disappeared down the driveway.

“Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit,” Tim extended the word until Steph and Kon were out of sight.

Venus rolled her eyes, shutting the door and locking it.

“I’m sorry. About doing that in front of your boyfriend,” she said watching him carefully.

Tim waved away her apology carelessly, not registering the words right away. When he did, his cheeks went red and he physically took a step back. “Kon’s not my- we’re not- he doesn’t-”

Venus cut him off. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“What?”

“That boy was so jealous! He’s clearly in love with you!”

Tim laughed. It wasn’t a proud moment.

“Yeah right!” he said through tears. “Kon loving me? Why would he? I mean we work together, and he cares which is weird and new but jealous? Don’t be ridiculous.”

His tears were from laughing too hard. No other reason. Just that.

When he finally finished laughing Venus was staring at him sadly.

“You really believe that.”

Why wouldn’t he?

“Tim, I know I won’t be able to convince you if you choose not to see it, but he was glaring so hard, I thought he might actually attack me.” But that didn’t mean it like _that_ right? That’d be crazy. “He wants to be with you. He wants to be the one you wrap your arms around in casual conversation. And looking at him, I have a feeling you’d look _delectable_ in his shirt.”

Oh.

Kon… 

But… 

_What?_ Why would _Kon_ like… _him?_

“That’s it!”

Venus beamed at him and he smiled right back.

“I know how I’m going to get Thalia’s information!”

Venus facepalmed.


	22. Good people

He was jealous. There was no more denying it, but Raoh, did he want to.

A girlfriend.

Tim had a girlfriend.

And in the end, it wasn’t a cape. It wasn’t a hero or a god or an alien. It was just a girl. The single most attractive girl Kon had probably ever seen. A girl who wasn’t born in a test tube and probably didn’t have anger issues. Probably came from a rich family and was a sensible choice for Tim Drake to date. Was probably someone he could take to galas and be proud of. Probably someone who… 

Shit.

She was perfect. He’d only met her for like, one minute, and he already knew he didn’t have a shot.

Steph elbowed him- _hard_.

“Stop feeling sorry for yourself, and get your shit together. Something smells fishy here.”

Her bluntness took Kon by surprise, shaking him from his thoughts. “Fishy?” he repeated hopefully.

“I’ve always known Tim doesn’t tell me everything, I wouldn’t expect him to, but something like _her?_ I would know,” Steph stated plainly, flopping onto the couch.

“Now that I think about it,” Kon said slowly, “isn’t Tim gay?”

“Well,” Steph started doubtfully. “He’s not straight, that’s for sure. But technically, I’m not sure he’s exclusively into guys. He still identified as queer the last time we talked about it, but I guess that was a while ago. And I was pretty certain he was leaning towards guys… at least, he wasn’t interested in me when we broke up, but I guess that doesn’t mean that he’s not into _some_ girls. And I mean, if he is interested in girls at all, she would be... ” Steph trailed off, clearing her throat. “It’s a good thing I have a girlfriend.” Thinking about Cass, was making Steph's face go all soft and lovey dovey and- holy Raoh, did Kon look like that when he talked about Tim? How did people put up with him? How was Tim still oblivious?

But Steph’s words meant that at one point Kon _had_ stood a chance. It was one thing to strongly suspect, but it was another to have Steph confirm it. _Focus Kon._

“Anyway, who was she? I didn’t recognize her and I don’t buy that they’re in a relationship.” Steph sat silently and pondered for a moment. “She has to be _someone._ Tim was willing to lie to us about her.”

For the first time Steph showed doubt. “Or maybe, she really is no one. Maybe she’s Tim’s baby mama or a friends with benefits situation. Shit, maybe they really are sleeping together.”

Kon groaned, sinking onto the couch next to Steph and burying his face in his hands. “Real comforting Steph.”

They sat for a moment in mutual confused silence.

“She’s not… no- she can’t be. It’s too early. Isn’t it? Tim’s only seventeen! But then again… ” Steph’s eyes widened with worry.

“What are you talking about?” Kon asked impatiently.

She glanced at him, pulling herself out of her thoughts to try and give him an answer. “Before you knew him and way before you knew me, Tim and I had a falling out. It was years ago, and everyone assumed it was because we broke up, but actually our break up was the best thing that ever happened to us.”

Steph’s gaze seemed to be getting further and further away as she remembered it.

“It was less of a break up and more of a mutual realizing our queerness and that we never wanted a relationship, we just thought we were supposed to. It brought us closer together really. But when we were talking about it, Tim mentioned that his parents would eventually arrange a relationship for him because it was good publicity for the company and he might end up marrying her too.”

“His parents?” Kon asked sharply.

Steph’s eyes locked onto him sadly and the feeling of dread in Kon’s stomach tripled. “So you’ve already realized then?” She sighed. “I’d already had my suspicions, but that was the last straw for me. I started asking questions, investigating, doing whatever I could to look into his parents, but Tim blocked me at every turn. Eventually he iced me out and it took months for our relationship to recover, and it only did when I stopped looking into his parents.”

“There was really nothing you could do?” Kon asked hopelessly.

“No. It didn’t help that that was around the time I died,” she said nonchalantly.

“You what?!” Kon yelled.

Steph looked at him in alarm. “I came back, jeez no need to throw a fit. Technically I was only dead for a few seconds, but everyone thought I was dead for a few _months_.” She made a vague gesture in the air as if to brush aside that line of conversation. “Besides, half the Batfam has been dead or presumed dead at some point.” She paused, frowning. “Possibly all of us actually.”

Kon made a hopeless sound. “Holy fuck.”

Steph sobered. “The point is, if there’s one thing I’ve learned about Tim, it’s if you ask about his parents he will shut you down and he will shut you out.”

“But we have to do something.” Kon insisted earnestly.

It wasn’t fair. Kon should be able to help, or do _something,_ he couldn’t just leave this alone. He couldn’t just leave _Tim_ alone.

Steph studied him carefully, seeming to read the unspoken pleas in his eyes. “Maybe you can. I couldn’t get through to him, not then. But… maybe he’s ready now. Maybe you’ll be able to help him where I couldn't.” Kon gulped. “You two share something special, something even I never had with him. Maybe that’s what he needs now.”

“I think he’s going to need all of us for this.”

***

“I’ve got to make a phone call.”

Ignoring Venus’ disappointed expression, Tim bolted up the stairs, just barely remembering to grab a v-neck shirt before going after his burner phone.

Okay so _maybe_ Venus was right about Kon, and _maybe_ that thought terrified Tim almost as much as it excited him, and _maybe_ he was running from it by burying his head in work, but that couldn’t be proven and as long as it was working, Tim didn’t have to analyze it.

So instead of thinking about that, Tim dialed Jason’s number and waited.

There was always the chance that Jason wouldn’t pick up for a random burner number, but Tim was betting on him being too curious to ignore it.

Jason picked up on the third ring.

“ _Talk,_ ” he growled.

Tim suddenly remembered that Jason didn’t particularly like him and the last time they talked it was right after a fight.

He greeted Jason happily anyway. “Hey Jay bird, it’s Tim.”

“ _Replacement?_ ” Jason asked his voice going up an octave in surprise. “ _You’re sounding awful chipper, did binary code get recognized as a legit spoken language? Or did the Demon Brat finally bite it and you’re gonna be Robin again._ ”

Tim was so used to calling himself ‘replacement’ in his head, he didn’t even flinch when Jason said it out loud. “Unfortunately, no. My ninjas failed and the hell spawn lives another day, but there’s always next week.”

Jason laughed- the kind of reluctant snort that happens when you weren’t expecting to laugh and you didn’t want to either. “ _Just for that, I won’t hang up on you yet. What do you want?_ ”

Small victories. “You know the case you’re working on right now?”

“ _Why can’t you ever just call me to ask how I’m doing, it’s all work and no play with you._ ” Jason pouted, switching gears so fast Tim got whiplash.

“Would you rather I periodically check in to make sure you’re obeying the law like two other Bats we know?” Silence. “Exactly. So, the case? The one with Dr. M?”

“ _Why am I not surprised you know what case I’m working right now,_ ” Jason said, somewhere between amusement and exasperation. “ _Yes. What about it?_ ”

“Can you tell me about it?” Tim asked.

“ _She’s an up and coming drug dealer. Not the street stuff, she caters to the upper class if you know what I mean. From what I’ve gathered she’s got something big in the works, something I need to destroy before it hits the markets. I’ve been looking forward to blowing up her warehouse all week._ ”

“Great. I need you to give me the case.”

“ _Excuse you, **what?**_ ”

“I’ll make sure the supply gets destroyed, but I need something from her.”

“ _And why would I do that?_ ” Jason grumbled, still somewhat taken aback by Tim’s demand.

“Cause I can make it worth your while,” Tim answered smugly.

Jason was silent for a long time. While he waited, Tim noticed Venus was leaning in the doorway her face giving nothing away.

He waved at her.

“ _Okay fine,_ ” Jason’s curiosity finally won out, “ _what have you got?_ ”

“Dick in a stripper-Nightwing costume, dancing to _Anacanda._ In person, or video copy, your choice.”

Venus had to cover her mouth to keep from laughing.

After almost a full minute Jason cursed, “ _Holy **shit** Baby Bird. **How?**_ ”

Hook, line, and sinker. “I have my ways. Point is, I can deliver. I’ll even through in a substitue mission to sweeten the deal.”

Jason laughed. The kind of full bodied, deep sound, Tim would expect from someone Jason’s size laughing like they actually meant it.

When he finally calmed enough to speak he said, “ _Tell me about this substitue._ ”

“How do you feel about Ra’s Al Ghul?”

The humor all but vanished from his voice. “ _You mean the man who got me killed just to distract Batman for a few days?_ ”

“That’s what I thought.” For the first time, Tim faltered. “I’m not proud of this and Bruce can’t ever know-”

“ _What is this strange feeling?_ ” Jason made a point of pounding his chest. “ _Golly gee baby bird, I think I’m proud of you._ ”

Tim rolled his eyes. “But, Ra’s deserves it.” Jason could sympathize with the venom in Tim’s voice. “So I’m taking some non-lethal revenge. If you took this mission it would help a lot. If you don’t, I’m just going to do it myself.”

“ _Spit it out already._ ”

“You’re with the Outlaws right now, right?” Jason would have trouble doing this alone.

“ _How did you-?_ ”

“Kori’s an old friend of Dick’s.”

“ _She said she wouldn’t-!_ ”

“And she didn’t. Dick’s lost a lot of friends lately,” Tim said quietly. “I didn’t want Kori to be another.”

Jason sighed. “ _Yeah. I’m with them._ ”

“Good. An aliean princess, a pyromaniac inventor, and a League trained Bat should be enough.”

“ _ **Supplumental** training,_ ” Jason corrected.

“I need you to kidnap- not _kill,_ kidnap, I need him alive- one of Ra’s luetinants.”

Jason scratched his stubble. “ _What the hell do you want with a high ranking League of Assassins member?_ ”

“What’s important is that it’ll hurt Ra’s. Bad. It won’t go very well for the poor bastard you’ll be kidnapping either,” Tim deflected. Jason may hate Ra’s, but he might hate Thalia more and Tim couldn’t take that risk.

After a moment of consideration, Jason said, “ _Fine. You’ve got yourself a deal. Send me over the info on this League guy and I’ll send you what I have on Dr. M. And I want to see my payment in **person.**_ ”

Tim grinned. “I’ll set it up.” And hung up.

Sinking into his computer chair he logged in, quickly putting together a file on the man he would need- it wasn’t much, but Jason was resourceful, he’d manage- and sending it over.

“So, what now?” Venus asked, startling Tim. He’d forgotten she was there.

“Now, I do some breaking and entering.”

And there was only one person qualified to help with that.

She knew him a lot better than Jason though, so this time, Tim paused for a second to collect his thoughts.

He was gonna have to be honest.

Luckily, there was a reason why he was asking Selina and Jason for help. They were both morally gray, and niether would try to stop him from hurting Ra’s in the most effective non-lethal way he could.

So honesty.

Just… not all of it.

He dialed her number, opening the file Jason had sent him as he did.

“Hello,” he said pleasantly.

“ _I’d say to what do I owe the pleasure, but this is a burner so I assume you’re calling on buisness._ ” Selina drawled.

“Why does no one believe I can carry a casual conversation that doesn’t has anything to do with hitting someone?” Tim asked in exasperation.

Selina’s silence said enough.

“Yeah okay,” Tim concededed. “So hypothetically if I needed some advice on cat burglar stuff and I didn’t want Bruce to ever find out, think you could help me?”

Selina hummed with interest. “ _In this hypothetical situation, are you a cat or a bat?_ ”

“Well, let’s just say I was seriously considering breaking out my Stray costume for this one.”

“ _If I told you I happen to have an… **updated** version of that costume that would fit you now, how weirded out would you be?_ ”

Tim considered for a moment. “On a scale of 1-10? Probably around a 5 for suspicious, and 3 for weird.”

“ _I can live with that. If you wear it and get me pics, I’ll help you._ ”

“You drive a hard bargain.”

Selina scoffed. “ _Please. This is cheap, I’m giving you a serious friends and family discount here._ ”

Tim weighed the pros and cons of that. He’d sketched the original designs for the Catlad costume himself. Like the name, it had evolved over the years, but the defining traights had stayed pretty constant. Black, cat ears, lots of pocket space.

But the way Selina said ‘updated’ worried Tim a little. “Okay, fine. But if the demon brat gets his grubby little fingers on those pictures, I will be forced to claw his eyes out.”

Laughing, Selina said, “ _You have nothing to worry about, the demon brat hates me anyway._ ”

“I… ” Tim tried to find the right words, but he’d never been able to before, so why would now be any different?

“ _That doesn’t matter right now kitten,_ ” she said softly, reassuring him more than herself, which really just made him feel worse. “ _What do you need to break into?_ ”

Tim sighed, scanning the file, and putting Selina on speaker so he could use both hands. “If I’m lucky there won’t be any security guards- entraupanuers are paranoid like that- but the security system is Luthor tech.” He snorted. “The idiot, Wayne tech is far superior.”

“ _You **would** think that._ ”

“And because of that, I didn’t make it, so I’m gonna need some help beating it. It’s something new he just developed called ‘BTSD 2872’. Working title I presume.”

Selina thought for a moment. “ _That’s gonna be a tricky one. I could crack it in person, obviously, but I’m getting the feeling you’d rather not just bring me._ ”

“You should trust that feeling.”

“ _So I can walk you through it a few times and you’ll probably get the hang of it. It’ll take time though,_ ” Selina warned.

Tim glanced back at Venus, still watching him from the edge of the room. “I’ve got plenty.”

“Then let’s get started.”

***

Venus watched quietly while Tim worked.

She didn’t know who he was talking to, but the woman clearly knew what she was doing. In minutes Tim was creating a replica of the system she was describing on his computer and Venus didn’t understand half of it.

Who was this guy?

Less than two hours and two phone calls and this… child, had a viable plan to do something Thalia’s entire half of the league couldn’t do.

And it _was_ a viable plan. She’d gathered that much. Shaky? Still in development? Yes, but viable.

And what he’d said earlier… 

This kid was supposed to be a hero right? Part of a team? Saving the world with the power of friendship and black and white morals that left terrible people alive to kill another day?

So why was Tim alone, clearly some sort of rape victim, lying to his friends about her, involving himself with the league, and probably more intelligent than anyone Venus had ever met.

None of that lined up with what Venus knew about heroes.

He certainly wasn’t like anyone she’d met before.

Venus subconsiously looked down at her- no _his_ \- shirt.

She didn’t know if Tim was a hero, she wasn’t exactly the best judge of that, but he was a good person. Maybe that’s what the world needed now. Not heroes, but good people.


	23. Strays

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long!! School started and I briefly turned into a motivationless zombie, but I've got the hang of it now (more or less) so I should be able to update more regularly again. Please accept this extra long chapter as a peace offering.
> 
> Thank you so much for the support and comments! I read all of them and they make my day. Also, I started writing the first draft for the ending today!!
> 
> It's still pretty far off though, I just wanted to get a head start.

“So the green button… calls people?” Venus asked slowly, crafting her face into a careful mask of confusion.

Tim paused for a long moment as if going over her question to make sure he was answering correctly. “Yes.”

She glanced up, accidently catching Tim’s gaze and making them both burst out laughing.

They’d been doing this song and dance for two days to procrastinate actually going on the mission. It was a silent agreement they’d slipped into one day that they would do whatever they could to prolong Venus’ stay.

Normally, Tim was one for brutal efficiency and Venus had never lingered longer than necessary on her missions, but there was something different about being together.

When Venus was there, the house wasn’t empty.

He hadn’t even realized she was officially the second person to ever enter his room, but she didn’t need to know that. Ever.

It was just so simple and straightforward with Venus; she slipped seamlessly into a hole in his life he’d spent his entire childhood ignoring.

She made him coffee in the morning and they spent the day lounging around in sweats, pretending to be working on a plan. At night Tim ordered pizza and they watched movies.

Venus hadn’t seen _any_ of the classics, but he supposed growing up in the League did that to a person.

Still, they were the most relaxing two days of Tim’s life.

But it also left him a lot of time to wonder if this was what his life would be like if he finally got that apartment in the city. Or would he be just as lonely no matter where he lived.

“I think that’s enough for today,” Venus said quietly, studying Tim carefully.

Wait, when had he stopped laughing? How long had he been silent?

Tim blinked, pulling himself back to the present.

“Uh, yeah. Do you wanna watch Star Trek?”

Venus squinted at him. “Is that not what we did yesterday?”

“You have much to learn young padawan,” Tim deadpanned. “You see-”

His phone cut him off.

Venus who’d been smiling bemusedly at what was clearly about to become a long lecture on the difference between Star Wars and Star Trek, frowned at his phone. “Who’s that?”

Naturally, besides movies, Tim’s secondary goal was to teach Venus about music. Which had naturally lead to explaining about how his different ringtones corresponded to different people. Course, he hadn’t explained the intricacies of how he picked them. He wasn’t that stupid.

“Uh, _I’ll be good_ by Jaymes Young, means the demon brat’s calling. He never calls. Think I could just ignore it?” He bit his lip, weighing the hell Damian would raise at being ignored against the suffering talking to him would cause Tim.

“Why would you pick such a… sympathetic and sad song for someone you call ‘demon brat’?” she asked, listening closely to the lyrics.

Tim rolled his eyes, accepting this particular hell as something he was going to have to suffer through. “Just because we mutually hate each other doesn’t mean I don’t _understand_ him.” He picked up the phone. “If you’re calling to insult me again, could you do me a favour and set it to music? You’re insults are mediocre, but they might actually be interesting if you delivered them as a diss track.”

“ _A diss t- what garbage are you spewing Drake?_ ”

“You know, rap your insults. Like,” Tim cleared his throat. “You call yourself a Wayne but you just took my name, and your flow be kinda lame so I’ve given up on tame, I’m here to say you’re done cause you’re just Batman’s son, have no merits of your own sitin’ around like an old crone, latched onto Batman like a dog with a tick too bad he doesn’t see you’re such a big-”

“ _Shut up Drake,_ ” Damian growled. “ _I did not call to listen to you butchering the english language._ ”

Tim smiled with satisfaction. That had actually been a pretty good verse. Maybe he could record it and send it to Jason and Steph. They would appreciate his humor. Dick and Bruce probably wouldn’t, but they would.

“Well then cut to the chase. What do you want?”

“ _Grayson informed me you are slumming around with a **whore.** I do not recognize you as family and you are not good enough to be associated with father, but your actions still reflect badly on the family and you need to throw out this-_ ”

“Damian let me get a few things straight right now.” Tim’s voice came out ice cold, a painfully obvious shift from his earlier joking tone. “First of all, who I’m ‘slumming it’ with is absolutely none of your business. Second, the feeling is mutual, we aren’t family and we _never_ will be. And don’t you dare talk about things you don’t understand, calling Venus a whore is _not_ okay, and if you ever do it again I will personally make sure Bruce gets the recording and benches you for weeks. Not to mention what Dick will do to you.”

Tim counted prime numbers in his head, trying to pull away from the icy rage.

“ _You cannot speak to me like-_ ” Damian fumed, but Tim cut him off smoothly.

“If that’s all you wanted to say, I actually have things to do that are more important than you, so as always, it was miserable and I hope I won’t have to talk to you again any time soon.” Tim hung up, wishing it were still the 70s so he could slam it more satisfactorily.

He glared at his phone.

That little, entitled, arrogant, elitist-

“You didn’t have to do that,” Venus said quietly.

“Do what?” Tim asked distractedly, still mentally running through the list of insults he kept specifically for Damian and adding a few too.

“Defend me.”

Tim paused his mental list to say, “Of course I did.”

Venus shook her head. “He doesn’t even know me or what I am, it’s not that big a deal. I hear it all the time.”

“But you shouldn’t have to.”

Her mouth parted slightly in surprise, but before she could say anything Tim’s phone rang again.

Luckily this time, it was Panic! At The Disco so Tim picked up immediately.

“Sup Jay.”

“ _Word on the street is you got a girl-_ ”

“Jason,” Tim said tiredly, “I just got off the phone with Damian about that and would rather have this conversation later. Or never.”

Jason hissed sympathetically. “ _Sorry Timbo. The demon brat’s only like that because he’s jealous._ ” 

Tim’s mouth twitched. “He’ll grow up alone, forever mocking our romantic partners.”

“ _Uh, yeah. Right._ ” Jason suddenly sounded uncomfortable, changing the topic instead. “ _Anyway, I’m calling because we found the guy and we have a plan. We’re gonna do it tomorrow._ ”

“Tomorrow.”

“ _You don’t sound as excited to kick butt as I thought you’d be,_ ” Jason commented dryly.

“No I am, it’s just… ” Tim glanced at Venus. Yeah, he didn’t have time to get into that. “Don’t worry about it.”

“ _Okay…_ ” Jason stretched out the word. “ _Well anyway, we’re pulling it off tomorrow, so do we just drop this guy off at your house? Or do you want us to interrogate the guy a little for you?_ ”

The way he said ‘interrogate’ made Tim think ‘torture’.

“Yeah, just drop him off at Drake Manor.”

“ _You want to keep this sicko in your **house**?_ ” Jason asked incredulously.

“You’re right, why don’t I just walk the _League assassin_ into the Batcave and say ‘Damian no swiping’.” Tim finished in his best impression of Dora the Explorer.

Jason laughed sharply. “ _Point taken._ ”

“Do you want me to run comms for you?”

“ _Nah. We’ve got Roy._ ”

“Okay. Just call me when you catch the asshole.”

“ _Will your number be the same?_ ”

Tim thought about it. “No.” He gave Jason the number that went through the comms controlled by his computer and hung up.

He should probably say something to Venus. Or look at her.

He didn’t.

“This was going to happen eventually,” she said carefully. “And it’s not so bad. At least now when I’m at the League I can daydream about what Episode IX will be like. Hell, if I’m good I can probably sneak out for a bit to see it.”

Tim finally looked at her. “Nope. You’re going to watch an advance screening of it with me in the Manor’s screen room.”

Venus smiled sadly. “That’d be nice.”

But they both knew she didn’t believe him.

***

“You two got back quickly. How’s Tim?” Cassie asked, vaulting over the back of the couch and plopping down between Kon and Steph.

Kon just stared at her, his brain unable to comprehend her cheeriness in the wake of his conversation with Steph.

“What?” Cassie asked. “Is there something on my face?”

Steph laughed. “No, we’re just a little tense. Tim’s good.”

Cassie glared. “Why do you say that like it’s a bad thing?”

Looking away, Kon tried to find the right words to fully explain the complicated situation, but they didn’t come. So instead he said, “Tim’s got a girlfriend.”

If he’d been hoping that would end the conversation, he would have been wrong.

“What?!”

“Could you say that a little louder? I think someone in China is still asleep,” Kon muttered.

“When? How? _Who_?!” her voice rose in a shrill crescendo, her head whipping around to stare at Kon. “Wait did you say _girl_?”

Kon groaned, burying his face in his hands. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

“What’s her name? What’s she like?” Cassie interrogated.

“Venus,” Steph answered promptly. “She seems… nice. Incredibly polite actually and gorgeous.”

“Venus… ” Cassie muttered, turning the name over in her mind in search of where she knew it from. “Is she a new Bat?”

“Hell to the no.”

Cassie held her hands up placatingly. “Considering how many of you there are, it’s not exactly impossible.”

Shrugging her shoulders, Steph responded, “Fair. But actually, I don’t think she’s a vigilante at all. For one thing, her hands were baby soft.”

Kon hadn’t known that.

“So Tim’s dating a _civilian?_ ”

“Maybe?”

“What do you mean maybe?”

“Well it’s- it’s complicated actually, but-”

Kon stood up and walked away.

He thought he heard someone call after him, but he couldn’t make out the words so he kept walking.

Tim was happy.

Things were good.

So why couldn’t Kon just be happy for his friend?

Kon slammed the door of his room, pressing his back against it and sinking down. Why did he feel like shit? It was a stupid crush on a good friend. Now he had a girlfriend. It was over. That was that.

Right?

Right. Tim deserved to be happy.

This was good.

***

Tim crouched on top of the outermost wall, goggles down, staring across the courtyard between him and the main building.

The goggles might be his favorite part of the Stray costume. His domino mask had many of the same features, but the goggles were admittedly far more comfortable and had a much larger viewscreen that allowed for better sight.

He’d have to mention that to Batman sometime.

“ _That looks a lot more like a fortress than a warehouse,_ ” Venus pointed out.

Tim smiled, responding, “That’s why I came prepared.”

Venus’ snort was drowned out by the wind rushing past Tim’s covered ears as he leapt off the wall, slipping from shadow to shadow as he approached the keep.

There were only four guards watching the courtyard, one to each wall. One guard that Tim had to avoid in the dead of night. Whatever would he do?

Tim’s eyes stayed glued to the guard anyway. As easily avoidable as he was, the guard was still a professional and heavily armed.

Thank god Dr. M didn’t have a gardener, so the grass was high enough for Tim to sway with it, blending in with not only the shadows, but the texture of the ground. Closer he crept, the black-gray expanse of stone growing larger and larger until it blotted out everything else.

Switching from night vision to infrared, Tim checked to make sure the guards were all where they were supposed to be. Four on the walls, two prowling the inside, one invaluable chemist in the middle.

 _Purr-_ fect.

Switching back to night vision, Stray slunk along the wall, reaching his goal and starting his climb. Up and up, using cracks and gaps in the wall as hand and foot holes. He didn’t climb often, preferring to use his grappling hook, but he could still tell the Stray costume was better suited for it than his Red Robin one was.

For being skin tight, the Stray costume was surprisingly breathable and far more lightweight than the heavy armor of the Red Robin costume. The crisscrossing belts had been cumbersome to put on, but held even more gadgets than he was used to. Not that he didn’t have complaints.

The ears were… a little much. But then again, he did usually walk around with a bird on his chest and a cape. Not to mention the iteration of his costume with the _unfortunate_ cowl.

Tim reached his destination, pulling a spike out of his belt, shooting it into the stone, and wrapping the line around his waist to hold him in place while he worked.

The control panel was hidden in the wall, but all it took was knowing where to look and a pocket knife to break in.

Venus whistled over the comms, the first sound she’d made since he’d leapt off the outer wall. “ _That looks a lot more complex than the blueprints did._ ”

“‘It seems to run on some form of electricity.’” Tim quoted under his breath, slipping his knife back into its sheath with the faintest hiss and pulling out his tools.

“ _What?_ ”

Tim sighed. “No one understands me.”

“ _I’m so sorry, **Skywalker.**_ ” Venus replied sarcastically.

Tim gasped with pride. “You _were_ paying attention.”

“ _Yeah, yeah, focus on the incredibly complex circuitry that could kill you if you fuck up please._ ”

There were a lot of bells and whistles, but once Tim was able to seperate the red herrings from the underlying blueprints he’d been studying for the last two days, the work was easy enough and in minutes, he was able to connect the security system to his wrist computer. (He’d transferred it to the Stray costume because, how could he not?)

He never would have been able to figure this out without Selina. He’d have to remember to send her a muffin basket.

Tim unconnected his cable, closing the panel and continuing his climb to the window he’d chosen as his entry point. A little lock picking, a little hacking, a mini blow torch, and he was slipping into the building.

Switching to infrared, Tim stepped out of the storeroom into the fluorescent lit hallway, closing the door behind him and stalking the hallways towards his goal.

His focus narrowed to a knife’s edge as he grew closer, dodging the path of a guard along the way, but arriving without incident.

The door to Dr. M’s lab was locked with some of the best security Tim had ever seen and he took a moment to wonder how a newbie drug manufacturer was paying for all this. There had to be more to it.

Reminding himself firmly he was a cat right now, not a detective, Tim started picking the lock.

In this case the lock picks just happened to be a complex computer code Tim had written and now was modifying to work against the steel door and it’s over complicated biometric scanning lock.

The guard was starting to close in.

Forty seconds until he turned the corner and spotted Tim.

He worked faster.

Thirty seconds.

The second to last fire wall fell.

Twenty seconds.

The last fire wall fell and the lock clicked softly, turning green.

Tim pushed the door open, moving far too slowly.

Seven seconds left and Tim was in, closing the door behind him. It locked just as he saw the guard turn the corner with his infrared vision.

“ _That was close._ ”

Tim jumped at the sound of Venus’ voice. “Thanks for that,” he muttered as she laughed, switching off the infrared and leaving a normal, albeit slightly red tinted, view of the room as he turned around.

Any lingering annoyance was swept from his mind when he saw the lab.

It was surprisingly small, but Tim knew the doors on either wall led to storage rooms that could more than accommodate a reasonable supply of chemicals. Naturally he’d come in through the only entrance to the suite of rooms, effectively sealing Dr. M off from the world in her own vault, left to whatever priceless discoveries or fiery explosions she created for herself.

The workroom Tim was in now was immaculate, each bottle of probably deadly liquid labelled clearly and each shelf organized. There wasn’t a single speck of dust in sight and clutter didn’t seem to be in Dr. M’s vocabulary.

Speaking of the doc… the only exception to the room’s tidiness was a metal worktable in the center, covered in papers weighted down with various beakers of colored liquid and a desktop computer that took up a quarter of the space. Hunched over it and scrawling away wildly with a pencil was a figure in a lab coat, nodding along to a song playing on her headphones.

So that’s why no one had screamed when he came in. She hadn’t even noticed he was here yet.

Tim suddenly felt awkward.

Shaking it off, he took the opportunity to take a quick look around the lab.

The chemicals lining the walls were about what he expected for a mad scientists’ lab and there were no security cameras to worry about.

The equipment wasn’t quite state of the art, but it was close and was that-

Tim’s thoughts were cut off by a shriek.

Whirling around he saw Dr. M, clutching at the headphones now around her neck for dear life and white as a sheet.

Managing to get past her initial shriek, curse words began to tumble out of her mouth like it was the only way she knew to release the fear of a stranger clad in black suddenly appearing in her secure and supposedly secret lab.

She got some really creative ones in before it occurred to Tim she was probably dangerous enough to at least warrant tying up.

Tim started toward her at a slow pace, more of a prowl that lacked any real worry than anything else.

Her mouth finally clicked closed as she tried to stumble backward and only ended up pushing over the stool she’d been sitting on with a resounding clang and ending up on the floor herself.

Tim swooped in before she could move, pulling her hands behind her back and carefully binding her wrists with a zip tie out of one of his many belt pouches. He bound her feet too for good measure and took a step back to examine his work.

Her dirty blond faux hawk was sticking out at all angles, kept rigid with the product she used, but no longer carefully styled. It did manage to stay out of her face, leaving her gray blue eyes on plain display over a splatter of freckles. Tim had already made a note of the tattoo sleeves her rolled up lab coat had showed off when he was securing her hands. They would be good for identification if he ever needed it.

Under her lab coat she was wearing a pair of loose fitting jeans that looked so torn up Tim half wondered if she’d attacked them with scissors and a v-neck t shirt in a magenta that oddly complimented her eyes and fair skin.

“Who in the absolute fuck are you?” she asked.

Tim squatted down in front of her, letting his head list to the side as he looked at her more closely.

She couldn’t be older than twenty six.

“Stray. I’m here to steal everything you’ve got and leave no survivors.” He flashed a predatory smile.

Dr. M raised one thick brown eyebrow at him, apparently having recovered from her shock enough to be unimpressed. “Is that why you didn’t kill me while you were taking your unauthorized tour of my lab.”

Tim pouted in his best impression of Selina. “You’re no fun.” Standing up, he made his way towards the computer, picking up the overturned stool and sitting on it daintily. He glanced down at the chaos on the table, taking in notes in a near indecipherable chicken scratch that was nowhere near the carefully printed labels on the bottles around the room.

He could feel the doctor’s eyes boring into the back of his head, but she didn’t say anything. Not until he’d turned his attention to the computer and was pulling up her more legible notes.

“Wait!” The word tore from her throat in a blind panic. “What are you going to do?”

Tim spared her a glance. “I’m going to destroy all of it.” Not totally true, but the fewer people who knew about that the better.

“No!” Again the word was so coarse it hurt Tim’s throat just hearing it. This time he gave her his full attention. “Don’t. Please, don’t.”

Tim blinked owlishly at her pleas, uncomprehending. “You seem more upset about this than I was expecting.”

“You can’t just destroy my work!” Uh, yeah. He kind of could. “It’s my life, if you destroy it I can never get it back.”

“That would be the point.” Tim sighed. He wasn’t totally sure what about her made him keep going, but he did. “Besides, I know your kind. I’ll destroy it all now and in a few years you’ll be out of prison and you’ll just make it again.”

Dr. M shook her head frantically, making her wild hair even worse. “No you don’t understand, I folded over half those proteins higher than god when he was making the platypus, I’ve been trying to figure out how I did it ever since. If you destroy it now it could take lifetimes for me to manage that break through again sober, let alone building it from memory. And the state of mind I was in when I designed the structural formulas was probably even worse.”

Tim looked at her more closely. She was genuinely panicked. This time he noticed the dark circles under her eyes. And now that he thought about it, had that been aneedle mark under her tattoos? It had only been one needle mark though, not enough to indicate addiction.

“I assure you the irony of an addicted drug dealer isn’t lost on me,” Tim said, buying himself time while he turned back to the computer, this time going straight for the proteins she was using in her truth serum.

“Been sober for months not that anyone cares,” she muttered.

Tim ignored her, choosing to persue her research instead. His eye slowly widened beneath the goggles as he read her notes and examined the model.

“These are… this is genius.”

Dr. M shifted behind him, but he didn’t bother to look. “Using a carbon based solution with completely knew proteins,” he muttered softly, trying to wrap his head around what he was seeing. “It won’t be any more potent than the strands that already exist, but it’s a completely knew angle. None of the existing cures or vaccines would work on this.”

So he’d been right.

“Well, that was the idea,” Dr. M muttered.

“Wait,” Tim said his voice suddenly rising in confusion as he turned to look at her again. “With a brain like yours that can fold polypeptides like this, you could be curing cancer. Why the hell are you selling bio weapons to the bad guys?”

Dr. M shrugged defensively. “Let’s just say the ‘good guy’ scientists didn’t want me. Besides, I’m not selling bio weapons to the bad guys. Check my records. No buyers yet and no bioweapons. Nothing deadly.”

Biting his lip, Tim looked at her for a long time before turning to the computer to check if what she said was true.

It was.

But still. “Truth serum is a bioweapon.”

Dr. M rolled her eyes. “The truth isn’t inherently good or bad. It’s amoral and so is my truth serum. Do you call Wonder Woman evil for using the Lasso of Truth? No. So technically, since I don’t have any buyers lined up, even the most uncompromising hero couldn’t define me as ‘evil’, I’m simply neutral.”

Tim was quiet for a long time.

“ _I like her,_ ” Venus whispered in his ear, slightly breathless for some reason.

Tim’s mind was going a mile a minute. He still needed to destroy everything she had here, there was no compromising on that. But perhaps he could do better than just packing her off to prison.

“What if I told you I could get you a grant.”

Dr. M looked up. “What?”

Tim nodded slowly, pulling the pieces together in his mind. “Full funding for your research- the curing cancer stuff, not truth serum- and a lab to work in. The scientific community rejected you? Well I can get you connections so good they’ll be grovelling at your feet just to be interns for the doctor who cured cancer and whatever else you decide to work on.”

Her mouth fell open in shock, but Tim just kept talking, the final piece clicking into place. “I can even hire you a representative to help you distribute whatever you make and navigate the bureaucracy. I mean, if she wants to.”

The shocked silence stretched on and for a second Tim was worried she hadn’t understood his meaning when Venus finally said, “ _She wants to. She really, **really** wants to._ ”

Smiling softly, Tim silently allowed himself one moment of celebration over a plan coming together so perfectly.

“You can do that?” Dr. M asked slowly.

Tim nodded.

“You _would_ do that? For me?”

“Yeah.”

Dr. M’s chest heaved as she started laughing, her shocked peels of laughter echoing around the lab.

Tim shifted awkwardly, scratching the back of his neck.

When she finally calmed down, she said, “Mercury. My name is Marie Mercury.”

Smiling faintly, Tim greeted, “Hello Mercury. You’ll learn my name later, but for now I need you to help find what I need so we can get you a legitimate job.”

“Where do we start?”

Walking around behind her Tim cut her bonds.

“I’m going to need you to start with the truth. Who are you really?” he asked circling back around to face her.

“I’m a chemical engineer prodigy who wound up in the wrong place at the wrong time?” Mercury tried.

Tim raised an eyebrow.

Slowly, her smile disappeared. She was quiet for so long, Tim started to think maybe the truth was too high a price. 

“It’s a long story,” she warned quietly, rubbing her wrists as she crossed her legs and stared at the ground.

“I’ve got time.” Tim sat down across from her.

She stared into his eyes, seeing past the goggles and appealing to the boy behind them. In that moment, she looked vulnerable. More vulnerable than when she’d been surprised at his appearance. More vulnerable than when she’d been tied up.

Finally she dropped his gaze.

“I was born… ”

***

I was born into a perfect nuclear family in Olympus City. We weren’t like Gotham, or Metropolis, or Gateway; we didn’t have a hero. In fact, when I was a kid, I thought they were a myth for the longest time. I didn’t watch the news or anything, so all I knew were some kids at school thought they were real.

I didn’t believe them. Cause if heroes were real, why weren’t they protecting me?

Maybe we didn’t get a hero cause some cosmic deity hated us, but maybe it was for the best. No heroes meant we didn’t have to deal with supervillains either.

But that didn’t mean we didn’t have monsters.

My pa was a drunk. A bad one. He was also the most charming man you’ve ever met, but when he got home the smile fell and the monster came out. At first it was just ma. She’d protect me, take the brunt of it and try to smile through it so I wouldn’t realize what was going on, but he started to wear her down.

Ma was a housewife, so she spent a lot of time cooking. I think it might have been the only time she was ever happy. When I was at school and pa was at work and she had the house to herself to try out all sorts of recipes.

On days when I got home before pa, she’d let me sit in the kitchen with her, singing along to the radio and licking the spoon while she put brownies in the oven. I think that might have been the only time _I_ was happy.

But one day pa got home late. Really late. He stumbled in already drunk and started fighting ma. It got loud so I hid in my closet with a bag of marshmallows, reciting the periodic table under my breath to try and drown them out. It didn’t work.

Then I heard ma scream and by the time I got to the kitchen pa was dead sober, looking horrified at what he’d done and apologizing to her all over the place.

He’d thrown boiling water all over her.

It was ironic really. The one place my mother found comfort, and he used it against her.

But… 

He just looked so sorry.

He was sobing. He called an ambulence, he even rode to the hospital with her.

She told the hospital it was an accident and it was her fault for being a clutz.

When she finally got better and we were all home again, pa swore off the bottle. He stopped yelling at ma and suddenly instead of one good sober night a week, it was six. There were still bad nights, but he was getting better. He was trying.

At that time he’d still never laid a hand on me.

My studies got better and I skipped two grades that year. Turned out I was a ‘child prodigy’. Ma and pa were so _proud_.

At the start of my sophomore year of highschool, I was only thirteen years old and pa lost his job.

He told us it was just to get through the shock.

One more night, one more drink and he’d start looking for a new job.

Ma took on some work at a diner to help out.

Pa took on some whiskey at the bar.

The first time pa got home when ma was still at work, he yelled for ten minutes trying to figure out why she wasn’t there. I did my best to explain to him she was at work because we needed money, but it only made him angry.

He hit me.

It was the first time he’d ever done so.

Sure he’d made threats and promises, but those were words. This was a bruise on my cheek that I didn’t know how to cover up.

I had to take the next week off school to let my wounds heal.

Pa was home more often after that. I think maybe I made a good punching bag for him. Took the edge off even better than the alcohol. I was soft. Young. Made him feel powerful. And it wasn’t like I could leave.

I started to think maybe it was my fault. Maybe it had always been my fault. Pa didn’t hit ma before I was born.

But what could I do about it? I threw myself into my studies, trying to make them proud again, trying to prove my worth, but it didn’t do anything.

It wasn’t all bad I guess. He still had good days.

He’d ask me about my classes and how I was doing. He’d boast about how smart I was and how I was going to do big things.

Those were why I stayed. Why ma stayed too, I think. Besides the disgrace it would bring her to leave him, that is.

It wasn’t him, he’d say. It was the drink. Or it was me. Or it was ma.

He’d get better.

He’d get help.

But help never came.

No one in our tight knit community noticed the bruises I sported on a regular basis or the way my mother flinched at every raised voice or too loud noise. No one extended a hand to help. No heroes stepped in to take my father away.

So pa just kept hitting me.

And I just kept taking it because if no one ever commented on my bruises, maybe they were normal. Maybe every dad hit their kids. Maybe I deserved it.

Maybe he wasn’t the monster. Maybe I was.

There was something so wrong with me, my own father couldn’t stand looking at me without wanting to beat me black and blue.

It wasn’t just pa though.

Ma never lifted a finger to help me. She never told my father to stop. She never tried to leave.

One night it was so bad he pulled out a knife and gave me a nasty cut down my forearm. Told me to get out and never come back. That I was just a burden dragging everyone down. Ma just stood in the corner, hugging herself and staring at me with detached pity. So I left.

I ran because they didn’t want me. Ma might have been too meek to say it, but she never stood up for me. She didn’t try to keep me. She was probably disappointed in me too.

So I stayed away because it was better for them.

Fifteen years old, about to graduate, and I didn’t have a penny to my name. Didn’t have a name at all, in fact.

But I made due. I snuck into the house the next day when pa was at the bar and ma was at work and I took my stuff, as much as I could carry. I stayed at a friends house for a while, she didn’t know about ma and pa. She didn’t know what a disappointment I was

I hopped from house to house, banking on the close knit community and good friendships that someone would always put a roof over my head. And when they didn’t, I’d spend the night on the streets, fighting for scraps.

I never did figure out why ma and pa didn’t tell everyone I was a terrible daughter and get me properly disgraced. Why they allowed me that half life.

I applied to as many colleges as I could, but I couldn’t afford any of them and I knew it. This was the end of the line for me. I had nowhere to go after highschool.

Them some men in suits approached me. Said they’d pay a lot of money for a brain like mine. Said I could change the world if I tried, make a pretty penny too.

I knew there was something off about them.

I knew a company with that much money but no name and no face was probably illegal.

I said yes.

They paid for me to go to college.

I never went back to Olympus.

Sometimes I wonder what they think of me back home. If they ever look at the horizon and wonder where I went. In a town like Olympus, no one ever leaves, but I just vanished. I doubt my parents even noticed.

When I was done with college the men in suits came back. They gave me a task and a lab and money, and I started my research. I used the salary to buy whatever reminded me I wasn’t worthless and undeserving, whatever made me love myself again. I worked on my appearance and the way I spoke, re-teaching myself what it meant to be human.

And I healed.

When my research was done and I needed to start testing, they moved me here. They sent those guards. They told me to get it done. The payout would be worth it.

So I got to work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that went in some unexpected directions... Mercury was supposed to be a one line character at best. A shoddy James Bond villain in a lab coat. But then she got a name and it was down hill from there. Let that be a lesson kids, dont name your characters unless you want to give them a back story, semi-plot relevance, and a strong parallel to your MC.
> 
> Whatever, I love her anyway.
> 
> Damian's ring tone, I'll be good, is a really good song and you should all listen to it. I've been low key obsessed with it since the first time I heard it a few monthes ago and the lyrics actually fit Damian really well: "I thought I saw the devil this morning, looking in the mirror... I'll be good and I'll love the world like I should"


	24. The truth hurts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The italics are Tim remembering Mercury’s words from the last chapter. Also, sorry for taking so long on the update, I’m in the process of writing the climax and school is being awful.

Tim didn’t realize he was crying until the echo of Mercury’s voice had faded away.

_Maybe he wasn’t the monster. Maybe I was._

Absently reaching up to remove his goggles, perching them on his head instead, Tim wiped at his eyes. Who was he to cry in the middle of a… 

Even his mother’s voice- which usually _revelled_ in calling him weak for crying- had gone quiet in the wake of Mercury’s story.

“I’m sorry,” he finally managed, his voice coming out quiet and unsteady.

Mercury shifted uncomfortably. “It isn’t your problem. I… I’m getting better.”

_If heroes were real, why weren’t they protecting me?_

Some part of Tim knew that this must have happened when he hadn’t even hit double digits, but what good were heroes- what good was _Batman,_ when they couldn’t help kids like Mercury?

She had told most of her story to the floor, a southern drawl beginning to sneak into her voice the more she thought about her past, but now she was looking at him. Grey blue eyes meeting watery chips of ice.

In that moment Tim knew she wasn’t seeing a weepy thief, something in his eyes had betrayed him. She saw… empathy and he hated what the implications of that were. Tim almost would have rathered she saw weakness.

He cleared his throat abruptly, his eyes having mostly dried up.

“You should get everything in order. You have less than an hour before I blow this place to kingdom come, so I suggest you figure out which parts of your research are cancer aplicable and get ready to burn the rest.”

He pulled his goggles back on and stood up. The jarring difference between crystal clarity and a rosy tint helped Tim distance himself from the situation.

“ _Tim are you-?_ ” Venus tried to ask, but he cut her off sharply.

“I’m fine.”

Mercury shot him a weird look but didn’t comment.

“I need you to save two doses of your truth serum.” Tim ordered.

Nodding reluctantly Mercury climbed to her feet, dusting herself off. “And where will you be while I- and he’s gone.”

Tim slipped out the door, methodically checking for guards and prowling hallways towards his first destination.

_The most charming man you’d ever met,_

-he just needed to get to the storage room and place the charge-

_but when he got home the smile fell and the monster came out._

It didn’t mean anything. It was just… it wasn’t the same. His situation was different

_I had to take the next week off school to let my wounds heal._

He wondered if Mercury ever learned how to apply makeup to cover up those bruises. Tim froze, his hands hovering over the set charge. His fingers brushed numble against his goggles, just over where the bruise he’d covered up a week ago had been.

_I think maybe I made a good punching bag for him. Took the edge off even better than the alcohol. I was soft. Young. Made him feel powerful. And it wasn’t like I could leave._

They were Mercury’s words, so why did it sound like Tim’s voice?

The next thing Tim knew, there was a sound like crunching bone.

Shit. He stared at the wall where his gloved fist had connected.

Belatedly, pain shot up his arm, clearing his head and making him move to the next location.

And the next.

And the next.

Venus was mercifully silent and before he knew it he was slipping back into the lab.

“All set?” his voice came out low and rough, but Mercury didn’t comment.

“Uh, yeah. I think so.” She spun in a slow circle, scrutinizing the perfectly organized shelves and the mess of a desk. Her headphones were back around her neck. “Did you want the vaccine?”

It took Tim a moment to realize she was addressing him. “What?”

“The truth serum has been done for over a day. When you got here I was working on its vaccine. There’s only one dose, but I figured you might want it for whatever you’re going to use the serum for.”

Tim didn’t hesitate. “Yes.”

He took all three bottles from her and slipped them into his belt, pulling out the last charge and setting it up in her storage room, leaving the door open.

Tim hesitated. “Do you have any painkillers around here?” he asked as nonchalantly as he could, his knuckles throbbing.

Mercury shot him a concerned look. “Yeah.”

“You mind if I… ?” Tim gestured vaguely, but luckily Mercury understood. Walking over to one of the many shelves and selecting a bottle of pills. She poured out two, handing them to Tim along with a bottle of water from under her desk.

He accepted both, downing them quickly before returning to business.

“Ready to get out of here?” he asked, eyeing the tube now strapped securely to Mercury’s back that supposedly held the research she’d deemed worth saving.

“Yup.” She grinned, her excitement giving off faint ‘mad scientist who just reanimated a hamster’ vibes.

Tim’s mouth twitched. “Then let’s go.”

He tracked the security guards, leading Mercury towards the front door instead of the window he’d come in.

When they reached the doorway he held up a hand for her to stop, watching the movement of the guards with his infrared sensors until the moment was right.

When they were all as far away as possible from the east corner, he blew it.

The explosion shook the building, but didn’t bring it down. He saw the closest guards fall on their asses and the others whirl every which way in confusion, reaching for their radios or their guns.

Taking a deep breath, Tim plastered a feral grin on his face and spoke into his wrist computer.

“Attention ladies and gentlemen,” his voice boomed over the intercom, echoing around the courtyard. “I’ve already got your prized chemist and her formulas, so it’s too late for you to, you know, actually do your jobs. But you could always try anyway. Shoot me or whatever. All I can say is, whatever they’re paying you, is it worth dying for? Four more of those charges are placed around the building and in five minutes the whole thing is going to blow. No off switch. No way to diffuse them all. So how would you like to spend the last few minutes of your life? Shooting at little old me? Or running for your lives and actually getting a chance to see the sun rise?”

By the time he finished his little speech, the guards were already sprinting towards whatever staircase was closest to them.

Nodding in satisfaction that they would all make it out in time, Tim turned to pull Mercury out the door with him, sprinting across the courtyard and finding someone had already been kind enough to open the door for them.

They ran towards his bike.

“Can you drive a motorcycle?” he called.

“Y-yes?”

“Great. Do that. I suggest away from the building that’s about to go boom.”

Mercury climbed onto Red Bird, frowning in confusion as she started it and Tim slipped on behind her.

He kept looking over until he counted all six guards outside the fortress.

“Boom,” he murmured softly, pressing the trigger and watching the building go up in flames.

Venus whistled. “ _That is quite impressive._ ”

“I know,” Tim agreed.

From in front of him, Mercury called, “Who are you talking to?”

Tim was about to say ‘no one’, but he thought better of it and instead pulled off his goggles and cap with comms included, placing them on Mercury’s head instead.

He couldn’t hear whatever Venus said, but she must have made her presence known because Mercury said, “Oh, uh, hello.”

Tim couldn’t hear whatever they said next over the noise in his own head.

_I started to think maybe it was my fault. Maybe it had always been my fault._

It was his fault. Everything was always his fault. For being a mistake, for messing up, for being useless, for not being good enough… 

_No heroes stepped in to take my father away._

Tim screwed his eyes shut. Why would anyone help him? They didn’t stand to gain from it and someone his age should be expected to handle their own issues. Besides, they didn’t know.

And that was also his fault.

He never told them. Lied to them in fact. But… 

What if they found out about his parents and they said he deserved it? Or thought less of him? Heh, bold of him to assume it was possible for them to think less of him.

_There was something so wrong with me, my own father couldn’t stand looking at me without wanting to beat me black and blue._

His parents loved him. They… they created him. They put a roof over his head. Stocked the kitchen he ate from. Made him what he was.

Everything they did to him, the bad things, they did because they wanted to help Tim. Wanted to teach him to be better.

They didn’t… 

They weren’t… 

_Monsters._

***

Following Tim’s directions, Mercury drove through miles of the kind of rural country where they were just as likely to see a ‘hell is real’ billboard as a cornfield. They saw a _lot_ of cornfields.

Finally they got on the highway.

Realistically they had at least an hour until their exit, and by then Venus was doing most of the directing.

Actually, he wasn’t certain and it could have been for any number of reasons, but Mercury’s heart kept speeding up. He was pretty sure Venus was doing more than just giving directions.

Tim was exhausted.

He’d only been awake for sixteen hours and he was already exhausted. He felt like his insides had been scooped out and poured back in with a few pieces missing. He knew what he _should_ be thinking about, but it was like his brain was physically incapable of processing the issue. Everytime he got close to thinking about it, his train of thought vanished into inky blackness and he was left staring up at the sky, slowly losing its stars as they got closer to the city.

Instead he thought about… 

Actually his head was clearer than it had been in a long time. The mind that never stopped working had finally shut down.

Did Mercury use strawberry shampoo? It smelled really good.

She switched lanes, exiting the highway.

“You live in _Gotham?_ ” Mercury shouted over the wind, breaking Tim out of his mindless stupor for the first time in over an hour.

“What about it?” he called back.

“Do you know Batman?” she asked. It was hard to discern emotion at that volume, but she definitely sounded incredulous.

Tim smirked, “You could say that.”

Mercury didn’t say anything else, silently accepting Tim’s directions towards Drake Manor.

Tim finally said, “This is us.” Pointing over her shoulder at the manor.

The motorcycle slowed to a stop under the open gate. “Holy shit… This is your _house?_ ” Mercury yelled.

“For the time being.”

Glaring over her shoulder suspiciously, Mercury asked, “Are you squatting?”

While they were stopped, Tim took back his cap and goggles, holding his cap and placing the goggles around his neck for safe keeping. “It’s refreshing that you think that.”

Muttering darkly, Mercury drove up to the front door, stopping in front of it. “I’ll wait while you call the valet. You people have that kind of thing right?” she said sarcastically.

She was running her fingers through her hair to try and make it look somewhat presentable when Venus opened the door, leaning against the frame with her arms crossed. She’d taken a shower and washed her face while they were gone, even putting her hair up again and changing into a nicer shirt.

Her gaze was pinned intensely on Mercury.

Oh.

Tim was stuck between smiling and running away.

In the end Mercury gave up on her hair and caught sight of Venus before he could do either.

“Wow,” she murmured under her breath.

Before it could stretch into awkward silence, he stepped forward graciously, ever the host. “Welcome, Marie Mercury, to my house.” He smiled widely, not his Red Robin grin, but his Tim Drake smile. “My name is Tim Drake and this,” he stepped forward, placing a hand on Mercury’s shoulder and gesturing to the League courier, “is Venus.”

Mercury smiled at Venus.

“ _Wait what?!_ ” she yelled suddenly turning to Tim. “You’re who now?”

Tim winced. “Uh… Tim Drake.”

“Why in the fresh hell would you be in the middle of no man’s land-”

“Trust me, that warehouse was nowhere _near_ as bad as no man’s land.”

“-stealing and blowing up truth serum? And what’s with the outfit? Why would you be stealing anything if you’re rich? And how can you get away with this if you’re famous? And _do_ you know Batman? Holy shit do you know _who_ Batman is?”

“No, actually. Batman and I have a professional relationship at best. Sort of like… cat and mouse, but I have no idea who he is.” Tim didn’t have to look at Venus to know she’d go along with his lie. “As for the truth serum thing, stick around long enough and you might find out.”

Tim walked away, pausing only long enough to whisper to Venus as he passed. “I’m gonna go take a _long_ shower, don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.” Venus’ laughter faded away as he climbed the stairs.

He had a lot to think about.

***

Tim didn’t realize he was shivering until the hot water hit his back.

His parents were abusive.

Holy fuck.

He couldn’t breath, was it possible to drown in the shower? There was something in his chest, filling his lungs and making him ache. It was growing bigger every second, choking him and making his eyes sting, but everything was so blurry and wet that he couldn’t tell if he was crying. He fell against the tile, his heart pounding in his ears so hard he heard it over the water.

Everything was _wrong_.

He was wrong.

This was wrong.

How could he be thinking these things about his own parents? They raised him, they were responsible for everything he was, they put a roof over his head, they fed him (most of the time), they clothed him, they… 

He was being ungrateful.

I-it couldn’t be true.

It didn’t make sense.

There was no way.

So many years.

He would have realized.

Someone would have noticed.

Someone would have helped.

He couldn’t breathe.

This wasn’t right.

He was a bad person.

Screw that; he was a worthless person.

_No. You’re not._

Tim took in a huge gulp of air.

_You are important._

In for four, pause for seven, out for eight.

_You’re a person with emotions that you have the right to express._

He blindly reached out for the shampoo, regaining control over his breathing and using the soothing repetitive motion to slow his heartbeat.

The voice sounded strangely like Kon, but Tim recognized Cassie and Dick’s words.

God what was he even thinking? If his friends could see him right now they would... 

_Never apologize for crying._

His friends would tell him not to put himself down. They would probably say something that made him feel better because they were ridiculously good people who… cared about him.

Tim finished his shower and got dressed.

He had a lot to think about, but maybe it was better to take it in pieces so he didn’t have another panic attack.

And maybe… just maybe… it would be a good idea to reach out to his friends about it.

***

“So how does this work?”

Tim set the vaccine down on the kitchen table with more force than necessary, plopping down in the empty seat left at the kitchen table.

Mercury paused in the middle of what seemed to be a hilarious story about her time at college involving an overpowered hallucinogenic, two of the professors, and a fantastic but utterly false alibi. “Well… ” she launched into a complicated explanation of the components and the chemical structure that made up the vaccine, going on to talk about how it would interact with different parts of the human brain and effectively counteract the truth serum she’d created.

When she finished, she leaned back in her chair with satisfaction, taking a long sip from the mug of tea that had gone cold in front of her. Noticing this, Venus stood gracefully to reheat both their mugs and pour Tim some coffee. If Tim were straight, he’d be in love. Hell, he was gay and still thinking about marrying her.

Pulling his head away from how awesome Venus was as a roommate, Tim binked slowly, trying to process all of the very complicated and specific words Mercury had just used. “You had me up until anterior cingulate cortex.” From the kitchen, Venus snorted. “Could you explain one more time in simpler terms?”

Mercury frowned, thinking for a moment about the best way to explain it. Finally she said, “Well, it should stimulate the parts of your brain related to truth and reward in such a way that every truth you tell will trigger the reward center of your brain.”

“So how will it affect me?”

Mercury’s hands fidgeted like she wished she could get her mug of cold tea back just to have something to do with them. “I’m not totally sure. I wasn’t done with my research and it’s never been tested. But if I’m right, it should feel like a gentle inclination to tell the truth instead of like you’ve lost control of your mouth. It’ll make you a worse liar, but it won’t completely take away your ability to lie. Oh, and it may or may not give you a wicked high,” she added as an afterthought. “But it’s not addictive and any effects should be out of your system in less than a few hours.” She bit her lip, trying to phrase her next words gentally. “Tim, it will limit your… inclination to lie. If there’s anything that you really _want_ to say, but you’ve been keeping locked up for a flimsy reason, I can’t promise you’ll be able to keep that impulse control.”

Tim nodded carefully, weighing the advantages against the risks. While he thought, Venus reentered the room, placing steaming mugs in front of each of them. Nodding his thanks, Tim stared at her, wondering if he’d be asking to much. “If I-”

“Start to spill sensitive secrets?” she asked, a smile playing around her mouth. “Don’t worry. I’ll gag you.”

Smiling back at her, Tim said, “I was just going to ask you to change the subject, but that’s probably more efficient.”

They laughed. “Okay. Time to go put mystery drugs in my body and hope things work out,” Tim said, standing up and grabbing the vaccine. “Wish me luck.”

“I don’t think so.” Venus frowned standing up with him. “We’re coming with you to make sure you don’t keel over and die.”

Mercury nodded solemnly. “For science.”

“I appreciate the sentiment.”

***

“Do you feel any different?”

“That’s the fourth time you’ve asked that in five minutes. If I felt anything I’d tell you.” Tim rolled his eyes flopping back onto the bed.

“Science Tim!” Mercury enthused. “I need to document how this trial goes.”

Tim raised himself up onto his elbows to quirked an eyebrow at her. “The trial for a drug that I took the last dose of and no one will ever possess.”

Mercury hesitated. “... right.”

“Maybe it just takes time,” Venus offered, spinning in lazy circles on his desk chair.

“Or maybe we got lucky and it doesn’t have any side effects.”

Frowning, Mercury started pacing. “It’s possible but it seems very unlikely. Maybe we need to test it out?”

“How do we do that?”

Silence followed Venus’ questions.

Tim’s hair was still wet from his shower. It was probably getting his sheets wet. He was going to have to sleep in a weird wet spot that got warm during the night and felt like he’d peed the bed. God he was gonna wake up and have another panic attack.

“I don’t like wet sheets.”

Venus frowned over at him. “I’m sorry, what?”

Tim blinked. “I don’t know. I was just thinking about how my hair is getting my sheet wet and I… felt the need to share? It kinda felt good to say out loud? Like someone flipped my pressure release valve.”

After an uncomfortably long moment of silence, Mercury said, “I think it’s working.”

“Well this isn’t so bad. It feels kinda nice actually.”

Mercury smiled wryly. “Count yourself lucky. The real stuff hurts like holy hell.”

“Did you test it on yourself?”

Nodding slowly, Mercury looked away, rubbing her forearm absentmindedly. “There weren’t a lot of other options.”

“I wonder what you said.”

Mercury smiled painfully. “Nothing important.”

“Do you guys want to have a sleepover tonight? We can set up a blanket fort in the screening room.” Mercury blinked at the abrupt topic change.

Venus’ eyebrows climbed so high they threatened to disappear into her hairline. “So that’s what you’re really thinking about right now?”

“Well actually I was thinking about how my hair is wet and it’s getting my sheets wet which is going to make it feel like I wet the bed which is going to give me a panic attack because I haven’t wet the bed in ages and mother-”

Venus cut him off, “Okay. We can have a sleepover.”

“That’s good. I’ve never been to a sleepover. Not like an actual one anyway. Obviously I’ve slept over places and… ” well what did his clients count as anyway? Technically speaking those were kind of sleep overs, but Tim absolutely refused to even consider connecting those two things in his mind. Sleepovers should be pure not… the byproduct of business deals.

“Tim? Did we lose you?”

“I have discovered that I can control myself. I don’t _have_ to say the whole truth.”

If the girls were curious what he’d stopped himself from saying, they didn’t ask.

Venus declared, “Well I’ve never been to a sleepover either.” If she wasn’t counting her… clients (Rapists?), then Tim figured his didn’t count either. That was a relief.

“I’ve been to a few. I always found them rather boring actually.” Mercury shrugged. “It might be more fun with the two of you though.”

“Well it’s decided then.”

“You do realize it’s 4 am right? It isn’t exactly prime sleepover time.” Mercury pointed out.

“Don’t be ridiculous.” Tim waved away her point. “The party is just getting started.”

_Mercenary by Panic! At the Disco started blaring from his computer, making both the girls jump._

_  
_

“Relax,” he said, rolling off the bed. “It’s just Jason.” Making his way over, he shooed Venus out of his seat and clicked the button to accept the call.

“What’s up Jay?”

“ _We got your guy, but he’s out cold and we’re having a bit of a mobility issue._ ” Jason’s voice boomed around the room from the computer speakers.

“How so?”

“ _Kori’s down,_ ” a hint of boiling anger crept into his voice. “ _She’s going to be fine, but we can’t leave her alone and we’re pretty far from Gotham._ ”

“Is there anything I can do to help?”

“ _Don’t worry about it Timbelina. Just make sure this bastard suffers with whatever you’ve got planned._ ”

“Timbelina? Really? And I’ve been informed the process is excruciatingly painful.”

“ _Process?_ ”

“Don’t worry about it. I can pick him up tomorrow.”

“ _Okay. We’re staying in an old foxhole for now. We’re going to keep him under while we tend to Kori so I’ll text you the address._ ”

“Got it.”

Jason hung up.

Silence stretched though the room and Tim had no idea how to break it.

“So this is really it, isn’t it?” Venus spoke quietly, closer behind him than she had been earlier.

Tim let out a breath he hadn’t known he’d been holding. “Yeah.”

He turned around to find Venus standing right in front of him, her eyes shining faintly. He took her hands in his, holding them between them and staring up at her. “I made you a promise, remember? I don’t break my promises.”

She pursed her lips, searching his face for any hint of doubt, but she found none. Still, she said, “That’s just it. There’s no way you can know for sure.”

Tim’s mouth quirked up. “I do. This time, I do.”

His plan was stupid and reckless and dangerous beyond belief, but for some reason he hadn’t balked at the idea. Venus was worth it. He didn’t know why, but he couldn’t bear to see her go back to that life.

Mercury glanced between them like she was watching a particularly confusing tennis match. “What?”

Venus wiped at her face with her sweater sleeves, looking away from Tim. “It’s nothing. Tim’s right, it’ll be fine. Just worried about the transfer.”

Had she not-? Oh. Mercury didn’t know.

Tim was suddenly itching to tell Mercury everything, to reveal everything about Venus and his plan, but he checked himself, doubling down on the secrets that weren’t his to tell.

“I think we should all go-”

Tim was cut off by his phone this time instead of the computer.

Venus quirked an eyebrow at Kon’s ringtone, but for some reason Tim wasn’t embarrassed.

“What’s up?” he asked, picking up the phone.

“ _Wow you actually picked up. I kind of figured you wouldn’t… nevermind. Anyway, I called to apologize about a few days ago._ ”

Tim gave him a few beats, but when Kon still didn’t say anything, he prompted, “What about it?”

Kon exhaled in frustration. “ _I wasn’t very… **polite** to your girlfriend, and-_ ”

“Wow, wow, wow, Venus is _not_ my girlfriend.”

Venus stiffened, trying to get his attention to tell him something, but Tim was focused on the conversation.

“ _She’s not?_ ”

“Of course not! I’m gay. She just pretended to be so I wouldn’t have to explain who she was and go through the awkward and somewhat incriminating process of telling the Justice League that I’m doing a favor for the League of Assassins. Plus I don’t know how they would feel about Venus as a person which is total bull cause she’s awesome.”

In a far removed part of his mind that was more watching the conversation than having it, Tim knew he probably shouldn’t be telling Kon this, but every word felt like it was a weight lifting off his chest, and even the rational part of him knew the rewards of telling Kon the truth far outweighed the consequences so he let himself ride the vaccine, saying whatever it wanted him to.

Across the room Venus facepalmed.

“ _What?! Why are you working with that creep? He tried to kidnap you!_ ”

“Oh yeah. I almost forgot about that it was so long ago.”

“ _It was less than three weeks ago!_ ”

“And no, of course I’m not working with him. Not because of the kidnapping me thing, I mean that was bad but it was never gonna work, I’d kill myself before helping him transfer into Damian’s body and use me like that, no matter how much he dresses it up and compliments me. Can you imagine an old bastard like Ra’s in Damian’s body with me as his consort slash strategist? No, you can’t. Cause it’s fucking gross. Contrary to popular belief I do have a line and I draw it at being an actual League member. Okay, that’s not true, but it’s somewhere in there and Ra’s’ plan definitely crossed it, but like I said that was never gonna happen, so really I would never work with him because he had you kidnapped.”

“ _When did he have me kidnapped?_ ”

“Like last week, Kon. Jesus, you thought _I_ was bad.”

“ _Are you talking about when Slade kidnapped me?_ ”

“Obviously Slade carried it out, but Ra’s was the one who ordered it to see what I would do. But that isn’t important right now because I’m not working with him, I’m working with Thalia which is basically the opposite of working with him and I’m only doing it because he hurt you and I can’t just let him get away with that so naturally I have to take revenge.”

“ _Tim, I mean this in the nicest possible way, how high are you right now?_ ”

“I am offended that you would think that.” Tim paused. “And I just took a vaccine for truth serum and may be experiencing some of the side effects.”

“ _And what exactly are the side effects?_ ”

“Not sure. It’s completely untested. I took the only dose in existence so we aren’t sure what exactly might happen.”

“ _You took untested drugs?!_ ”

“Chillax. I looked over the chemists notes myself, albeit briefly. She’s a mastermind, truly a genius. So it’ll be fine. Probably. Okay, truth is: I don’t know.” He laughed giddily. “God that feels good to say. Who knew not knowing could feel good?”

“ _I’m coming over._ ”

“K! See you soon. Bye!”

“ _Seen you soon._ ”

Tim hung up, smiling happily at his phone. “I think that went well.”

***

After a lot of Venus facepalming and Mercury trying not to smile, Tim decided to meet Kon on the roof. He wasn’t sure why, but he wanted to talk to the half kryptonian alone.

Venus opened her mouth to protest the point, but instead shrugged and told him to go right on ahead.

Which was why Tim was checking his email on the roof of his family mansion, waiting for a flying clone to come and give him a lecture on drug safety.

Why was his life like this?

Finally Kon appeared on the horizon. Tim waved enthusiastically. Kon waved back, slightly more confused.

“Hi Tim,” he said when he landed.

Tim didn’t bother with pleasantries. Instead he just walked up and hugged Kon. Somehow it felt like the right thing to do. The most truthful way to express his feelings. Plus, he couldn’t stop remembering Kon’s voice telling him everything was going to be alright and to just _breathe_. Kon might not know it, but he’d done a lot to quell Tim’s panic attack. 

“Hi Kon,” he murmured into his friends shoulder. “How are you?”

“I’m good,” Kon said in amusement, hugging Tim back firmly. “More importantly how are you.”

“It isn’t anywhere near as important, but I’m okay. I made two new friends, sort of.”

Seemingly aware that the hug had gone on far longer than was politely necessary between friends, Kon pulled away. “Care to tell me why you took untested drugs?”

Tim frowned in concentration. “Well technically it started because of you. Or maybe Dick. Dick might have been the one to push me over the edge, but I was already falling because of you, so I’m gonna go with you.”

“Me?”

“Yeah. When you got kidnapped, it was Ra’s who ordered the kidnapping so I declared my not-so-bloody revenge on him, remember?” Tim was pretty sure he’d already told Kon about that.

Kon frowned. “I thought you already took revenge on him. When you disappeared while I was still knocked out.”

Tim shook his head. “No, I just went and _declared_ I was going to get revenge on him. Today I actually went and got it. Sort of. It’s complicated.”

“But what does that have to do with untested drugs?” Kon was finding it immensely difficult to get the answers he was looking for out of a truthful Tim.

“Well, to get revenge on Ra’s I offered Thalia a favor and she wanted me to get her some information, so I had to go to this warehouse to get this truth serum but the chemical engineer who created it turned out to be really cool and- anyway, she had a vaccine on hand and I decided to take it just in case, you know? Cause the truth serum she designed doesn’t have a cure or vaccine in the world right now so I figured it could be useful to be the only person immune so I took it.”

Kon was quiet for a moment. “Okay, that was a lot to digest, but I think I understand. And you didn’t tell me any of this why?”

Tim shrugged. “I wasn’t sure you’d understand. When you were gone I was just so scared and it hurt so much. Thinking about what Slade was going to do- what he did do, felt like _I_ was the one being beaten to a pulp. I had to do something. I had to hurt Ra’s back so that he’d never touch you again. So I did. I wasn’t sure if you’d get that or not. Plus I know what I’m doing isn’t the most _ethical_ thing in the world even if I’m not breaking the one rule and I don’t want you to think of me like that.”

“Tim,” the name rushed out of Kon like he’d been hit in the gut.

“Have I ever told you how much I like it when you say my name? Not a lot of people use it. All my siblings have nicknames for me and my parents use my full name and most other people avoid me so it’s really just you and the team, and now Venus and Mercury, but when you say it it’s different. It makes me feel… good.” A twisting, uncomfortable feeling was starting to grow in Tim’s gut. There was a truth he’d avoided for ages, one he’d only recently begun to piece together into words in the safety of his own head, but Mercury’s vaccine was urging him to speak it aloud.

“I… had no idea.”

He shrugged. “You have no idea about a lot of things. Like how your eyes are the perfect sky blue of a clear afternoon. And your hair is always the perfect amount of windswept and orderly. Or that you’re actually really hot.” Tim scrunched up his nose. “On second thought you might have known that last one, but it’s true.”

Kon waited for Tim to come to his senses and take it back or negate it in some way, but he didn’t.

Tim was on a roll now, frowning at something just over Kon’s shoulder. The part of his brain that still had reservations finally threw in the metaphorical towel, saying, ‘this might as well happen’ and sat back to watch as Tim said, “Sure, Steph and Cassie are pretty, but they’re pretty like a sunset’s pretty. I enjoy looking at sunsets but I’ve never been tempted to fuck one. They have a kind of aesthetic, ethereal beauty, but _you_ are hot. You make my fingers itch because I want to run them through your hair and memorize what you’d feel like beneath them. It’s a totally different thing.”

Smiling triumphantly at how he’d been able to phrase that, Tim finally looked at Kon. The taller boy was blushing redder than Superman’s cape, staring at Tim like he couldn’t be real.

“What? Was it something I said?”

Kon burst out laughing and it was such a beautiful sound, Tim had to laugh too.

“Tim, you have to be the most interesting person I’ve ever met.”

“Hey Kon?” Tim asked tentatively, the rush of so much truth all at once having not quite faded yet.

“Yeah Tim?”

“Do you think you could ever find _me_ hot? I didn’t think so, cause I’m just me and that’s not a lot, but Venus seems to think so and she is pretty smart about these things so maybe I do have a chance.

Kon blinked in surprise, looking at Tim’s hopeful face with a soft expression. “Tim, saying that I think you’re hot is a bit of an understatement.”

He beamed. “So that means you could like me.”

“No Tim, it means I _do_ like you.”

Tim’s heart skipped a beat. Then several more. “Oh,” was all he managed to get out.

Kon looked at the ground bashfully, smiling so wide it almost hurt his face. “Look Tim, I’m really happy you’re telling me this, but you’re high. You aren’t in your right mind right now. We should talk about this more later.”

Tim gave him a weird look.

“What?”

Tim pursed his lips, poking Kon’s cheek. “How are you so perfect?”

Kon snorted. “Come on birdie, let’s go inside.”

“Okay,” Tim said, walking away from Kon and hopping off the edge of the roof.

Kon belatedly felt a surge of panic, but Tim just popped his head back up and said, “You coming?”

Walking over to find Tim standing on a lower section of roof, Kon laughed with relief. “Yeah I’m here.”

Tim graciously and unnecessarily held open the window for him. “After you.”

Smiling, he slipped through it.

“Tim? That was fast,” a female voice called from the hallway.

Kon stiffened, only having time to briefly wonder what kind of lies he’d have to spin to explain climbing through Tim’s window before Venus walked through the door.

Venus paused briefly in the doorway, cocking her head at him and smiling welcomingly. “Hullo, Kon. Sorry about earlier, I didn’t mean to cause you any undo stress, but you’ll have to understand it was a necessary evil.”

Kon did his best to return her smile understandingly, but it came out more like a grimace. “Don’t… worry about it. Tim explained the situation. More or less.”

Climbing through behind Kon, Tim wobbled a little bit on his feet, stumbling into Kon who caught him easily. He righted Tim, frowning at his usually graceful friend’s lack of balance.

Giggling slightly, Tim addressed Venus. “I told him _everything._ Well, almost everything. Don’t worry, I kept your secrets. And Mercury’s. I only told him mine.”

Venus pursed her lips, amusement and concern mingling in her gaze. “Are you still feeling alright?”

“I feel wonderful,” Tim slurred smiling widely and leaning slightly towards her only to stumble over his own feet. Kon caught him smoothly, keeping a gentle grip on Tim’s arm to keep him standing.

Taking a step back, Venus looked down the hallway at someone Kon couldn’t see. “Merc, can you come here a sec? I think Tim’s feeling those unknown side effects.”

“Finally! Keep him there,” a voice called, deeper than Kon had been expecting and with a faint accent that reminded him of Clark.

Seconds later a woman came sliding past the door, her socks slipping along the hardwood. She stopped herself using the doorframe and walked into the room, her eyes focused on Tim with analytic intent.

She was as tall as Kon, her hair actually put her a few inches above and for a second Kon was tempted to pull Tim behind him. He didn’t like the way she was looking at him.

Something in his gaze must have said as much because she glanced at him, reigning herself in enough to address him. “Hi, I’m Mercury. I’ll be Tim’s doctor for the next,” she checked her watch, “36 hours give or take. We good? Good.”

Her gaze lit up again as it returned to Tim. “Flushed face, dazed look, clammy… ” she put a hand against his forehead, “raised body temperature, oh my god this is so _fascinating._ ” 

“You’re excitement is incredibly infectious when your eyes light up like that. You should do more sciency stuff, you clearly enjoy it.” Tim beamed.

“Wow, it’s even worse than before!” Mercury buzzed, taking Tim’s hand to check his pulse. “Tim what’s the cruelest thing you’ve ever said about one of your brothers?”

Tim opened and closed his mouth like a fish. Before turning it down in a decisive frown and shaking his head slightly. “I can’t say. I feel really bad about it and I’d rather forget.”

“So he does still have some degree of control. Interesting.” Mercury pulled Tim away from Kon towards the bathroom, “Come on. I need some blood samples to test.”

Tim followed her willingly.

Only when Tim’s subtle warmth was gone from his side did Kon realize how very weird this situation was, even by his standards.

“Wait, hold on!”

“I’ll just be a sec!” Mercury yelled, not bothering to turn around.

Kon took a step forward, but suddenly Venus was there with a hand on his chest. “Cool it, red. I know you don’t know who we are, and I have no idea what Tim might have told you about us, but I need to talk to you and Mercury needs space to run her tests.”

He tore his eyes away from the bathroom door to frown down at her. “I take it the blond’s that chemical engineer that gave him untested drugs, and you have something to do with the League of Assassins that Tim doesn’t think I’d approve of. Sound about right?”

Venus face remained impassive. “Yes.”

“And what about that is supposed to make me trust you?”

“Tim trusts us.”

“Tim doesn’t trust anyone.”

“He trusts you.”

Kon froze, his full attention finally zeroing in on the woman. “What?”

“Now the real question is what are you going to do with that trust?”

Kon suddenly got the impression she wasn’t talking about interrupting Mercury anymore.

“What,” she repeated, her dark eyes boring into his in a way that made it _so_ easy to forget she was only human, “are you going to do?”

“V! This is so incredibly groundbreaking! With every truth he tells, the vaccine is releasing small amounts of dopamine into his system! He’s getting drunk on his own words, it’s-” Mercury finally looked up, taking in the seen before her, “fascinating,” she finished weakly.

Venus’ eyes narrowed before she turned to smile at Mercury. “That’s awesome! Why don’t you see what we can do about getting it out of his system?”

The doctor took the obvious dismissal gratefully.

Venus waited for a moment before turning back to look at Kon. “You heard the doc. Tim said a lot of things tonight he wouldn’t normally say, they were all true, and he didn’t stop himself, so at some level he must have really meant them, but I want to know, what are you going to do about it?”

She had a point. It was all well and good to stand there and listen to Tim pour his heart out, but what about when this was over? When Tim was back to his normal reserved self?

“I’m not sure.”

That was the wrong answer. Venus’ eyes flashed dangerously and for a second Kon was irrationally afraid of the small girl who had so far shown herself to be nothing more than an average human.

“Well figure it out ‘cause that boy has been hurt too many times to get yanked around by a _hero_ like you.” Something in the way she said it made Kon ashamed to be called a hero.

“How did you know about that?” Kon asked in a strained voice. “You’ve only known him for a few days.” It had taken Kon months to figure out something was off with Tim and even longer to figure out how he’d been hurt and even now, Kon didn’t know the full extent of it.

Venus gave him an almost pitying look. “That boy is a fantastic actor, and trust me that means a lot coming from me, but I’ve never seen it so painfully obvious that someone has been used and hurt and neglected. He needs something stable. I don’t know if that’s you or not, but I get the feeling you don’t want to see him hurt so I’m gonna make this real simple: Figure. Your shit. Out. Tim needs friends right now. As many as he can get.”

Venus took a steadying breath, her face finally giving away emotion. “No one has ever treated me like Tim has. My entire life people have stepped on me and scarred me in ways that would disgust you, but Tim saw all of that and he accepted me anyway. Believe me when I say, he’s won my loyalty. He doesn’t know it yet, but one day that’s going to be important because loyalty always is. So I consider it my business to ask, will you stay with him? When things get rough, because they’re going to, will you stick with him anyway?”

Kon stared down at her, his world view doing another dramatic, but surprisingly easy to accept, shift.

Somehow it didn’t surprise him that over the course of just a few short days Tim could inspire such fierce loyalty, but it brought up so many questions. Questions that he knew would probably never get answered.

But maybe it was easy for him to accept because he knew exactly what that loyalty felt like. He knew that feeling of protectiveness and complete trust.

Suddenly he realized that in this moment, he was the stranger, not her.

Tim had… shown her something that Kon couldn’t understand. Not yet. This was the first time anyone had ever doubted Kon’s devotion to Tim. The first time anyone had bothered to question him at all.

He supposed… if anything were to ever happen between him and Tim… hypothetically… he’d have to get used to this conversation.

But he still had to answer her.

How could he tell her that he would always be there for Tim because there was nowhere else he’d rather be? How could he begin to describe the intoxicating pull he felt towards the smaller male? Or just how strongly Kon felt about his friend? Feelings that had surpassed the casual long ago and Kon wouldn’t go back for anything.

Kon’s gaze wandered from Venus’ eyes to the bathroom. The door was ajar and Kon could just make out a tuft off black hair before it disappeared from view.

Really, there wasn’t much else he could say.

“Of course I will. I love him.”

And Venus believed him.


	25. Bats see better in groups

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Previously...  
>  **Tim:** I'm not loopy, you're loopy!  
>  **Kon:** Are you okay?  
>  **Tim:** Woo wee you're hot. Your eyes are so blue they're giving me an oxygen high. *winks*  
>  **Kon:** Marry me.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title is supposed to be a play on "blind as a bat" but it's bad... whatever, enjoy the chapter! It was gratifying to finally write this after so many chapters of... well, you'll see.

Tim realized immediately he wasn’t alone.

“Please tell me that was all a dream.”

“No.”

“How long do you think it would take to get a hold of a time travelling device?”

“Knowing you? Twenty minutes. But I don’t think your friends would be very happy with you.”

“It’s not like Barry doesn’t do it all the time,” Tim muttered, allowing himself one moment of petty sulking before he sat up, throwing off his covers -- covers? He never slept under the covers -- and rubbing his face.

When his eyes finally adjusted, he saw Venus sitting at his desk chair, a closed book resting on her legs.

“Now might not be the best time, but you have five missed calls from Jason. Well, one from Jason three from Roy, and one from Kori.”

“In that order?” Tim asked sharply.

Venus hesitated. “Uh… yes? Does that make a difference?”

“ _Shit._ ” Tim stood up, hardly acknowledging the momentary black spots in his vision.

He started towards the computer, but Venus stood up to meet him, stopping him with a hand on his chest. “You might want to consider making yourself presentable first. I think they might want to see you for proof of life,” she said mildly.

Tim touched his hair faintly, feeling half the strands sticking straight up and the other half stuck to his face. “Yeah okay, you might have a point.” He allowed himself to be steered towards the bathroom instead.

“So why exactly did the order of their calls matter?” Venus asked from outside the bathroom.

“Well Jason was probably calling with an update, but instead of calling me again himself, _Roy_ called me,” Tim paused to brush his teeth before continuing. “Which means Jason couldn’t. Jason never lets Roy interact with me on his behalf, I don’t think he trusts us not to team up on him. Or maybe it has to do with his fling with Dick? He could be scared Roy will taint another of his brothers.” A smile played around Tim’s mouth.

“Naturally that already had me on edge, but Kori calling after that? Kori doesn’t use a phone. Not unless it’s an emergency. I could be reading too much into this, and it could be fine, but it’s as shady as every conversation Palpatine ever had with Anakin.” Tim finished washing his face and stepped out of the bathroom, looking far more alive. “Where’s Mercury? She not into watching people while they sleep?”

Venus rolled her eyes. “Your welcome for making sure you didn’t choke.”

Tim laughed softly. “Yeah I’m not gonna thank you for keeping me alive after I poured my heart out to Kon last night,” he said, slipping into his desk chair and pulling up the video call feature.

“And how exactly did he respond?” she asked innocently, placing herself beside the computer so she was out of frame.

Tim blushed, hitting the call button to avoid answering her.

Roy picked up on the third ring.

“ _Tim?_ ”

Roy was a mess. The dark circles under his eyes were even more pronounced than usual and his eyes were slightly bloodshot. Tim momentarily considered the terrifying thought that Roy had relapsed, but then he realized it was because Roy had been _crying._

“Roy, are you okay?”

“ _Am I okay?_ ” his laugh bordered on insane. “ _Kori was on death’s door for hours, then Jason just up and vanished, and you haven’t been picking up -- what the hell man?_ ”

“What? Jason said Kori was gonna be fine! And what do you mean he vanished?” Tim asked trying to keep his cool.

Roy buried his face in his hands. “ _No -- I mean, Kori **is** going to be fine. She-_ ” Roy cut himself off, groaning as he visibly tried to pull himself together. “ _The League guy did a serious number on her. She’s going to be fine now, but I -- shit, I was **scared.** Once Kori was stable, I guess he got some sort of Batsignal. He seemed pissed and he left. No explanation._ ” Roy looked… hurt.

Tim frowned. “Batsignal? I didn’t get an alert.”

“ _I don’t know, Tim. You Bats are fucking confusing. It’s the best I can do to keep track of **one** , let alone the whole brood._”

Tim bit his lip, recognizing that this wasn’t the time to push Roy for information. “Roy, I know a lot’s going on right now and you’re probably really stressed… ” Roy looked at him apprehensively.

Suddenly Tim realized he didn’t have words for this. He knew several kinds of manipulation, he could argue a fortune 500 CEO out of their company in seven different languages, and he could mediate an argument between heaven in hell and get Earth out of it in one piece, but he had no idea how to comfort Roy.

Something moved in Tim’s peripheral vision and he glanced up to see Venus mouthing to him ‘Tell him Jason is fine.’

Far be it from Tim to question a lifeline when he got one. He refocused on the screen trying to put on a reassuring expression. “Roy, Jason is fine. If it’s a Bat thing that I don’t already know about, then it won’t be too dangerous. Dick was probably just being melodramatic or something and Jason had to go calm him down. He left because he had to. You know how precarious his relationship with Bruce and Dick is right now, he couldn’t tell them no without raising suspicions. He left to protect you and Kori. And me,” Tim finished guiltily.

“ _You’re,_ ” some of the tension drained from Roy’s shoulders, “ _probably right. It’s just last night Jay… he…_ ” Roy frowned, staring at something Tim couldn’t see before shaking his head. “ _It doesn’t matter. I’m just a little on edge. Kori’s finally awake again and healing. I just… what did you call for?_ ”

“I woke up to five missed messages, I was worried about you guys.”

Roy snorted. “ _Serves you right._ ”

Tim sighed. “Yeah I probably deserved that. But one day I’m going to by you dinner and tell you what my week’s been like and you might feel differently.”

“ _Sure. As long as I get free food._ ”

Laughing quietly, Tim shot Venus a grateful look while Roy was distracted. “Do you want me to come by? I can bring you some food, watch Kori so you can get a break. I’ll take the League guy off your hands too.”

Roy glared at something off screen. “ _That’s probably a good idea. If he stays here much longer, I’m going to break his legs. I already chipped a few teeth._ ” His mouth twitched. “ _Well actually, Jason is responsible for the worst of it._ ”

Tim smiled kindly. “Okay. I’m bringing a friend if that’s alright? She knows everything, and she’s working with me on this case. Let’s just say she has a _really_ good reason to hate Ra’s.”

“ _The more the merrier,_ ” Roy answered only slightly sarcastic.

Tim shot him an apologetic look. “I’ll bring pizza and be over in an hour.”

Roy nodded to him and hung up.

“Thanks for the help,” Tim said to Venus.

She smirked. “You looked like you needed it. Come on. Mercury’s making breakfast and you need to eat before we leave.”

Venus tried to walk out but when she reached the door, Tim casually called, “Did you tell her?”

Freezing in the doorway, she didn’t even bother trying to pretend like she hadn’t understood him.

“No.”

“I’ll respect your wishes, but take it from a liar, it’s not a great way to build relationships.”

For a moment, she was so quiet Tim thought she’d left. “I know. And if things go south-”

“Venus-”

“No Tim. We both know that’s a possibility. So if they go wrong, don’t tell her what happened to me. Make something up, lie to her, whatever you have to do, just don’t tell her I had to go back to Thalia. And tell her… tell her I wish we could have had more time.”

Venus left.

“That’s not gonna happen,” Tim promised the empty room.

Some days he wasn’t sure if he really had the right to call himself a ‘hero’, but this he could do. He’d bend the rules and he’d dirty his soul if he had to, but he would not let Thalia take Venus.

She would never go through that again.

And maybe… maybe one day Tim would be able to extend that same conviction to protecting himself.

He had preparations to make.

***

Kon was nervous.

The kind of nervous that foreshadowed painful death and great embarrassment. The kind of nervous that people with stage fright got before speeches and people with anxiety got when someone texted “we need to talk” then didn’t respond for several hours.

He’d already played with the idea of just not going, but decided Dick would probably just come find him. But the reason Kon _had_ to go, was that Dick had said it was about Tim.

Kon glanced at the clock on the wall for the fourth time in as many minutes.

Tim.

He hadn’t been able to stop thinking about what Tim had said last night.

What Venus had said.

What _he_ had said.

Mostly he was scared they would smell Tim on his clothes and know he was in love with him. He didn’t want to think about what would happen if he was in a cave full of Bats when they found out about _that_ , but honestly, he’d face them ten times over if it meant he could be with Tim. And after what the detective had said last night… 

The hope that had been tentatively growing in Kon’s gut pulsed through him again.

Checking the clock again to find it was time, he marched to the zeta beam and input the Batcave. Just as Dick had said it would be, the usually locked location accepted Kon and the beam started up. Recklessness replaced Kon’s nerves, propelling him through the portal and into the darkness beyond.

At least he could blame Dick when things went wrong.

Kon stepped into a silent room.

Well, the term ‘room’ being used in its loosest sense. Even after being friends with Dick for years, Kon had never been in the Cave. It was… imposing.

The first thing he noticed was the sheer size of it. The cave seemed to stretch outward further than Kon could see, the far off walls seeming as distant as the horizon and the tunnel entrances told him the cave didn’t stop there. The ceiling was high enough that Kon could probably fly around with a good bit of mobility without ever brushing the stalactites that hung from it or disturbing the bats that nested there.

And that was just the cave.

The decor brought the whole thing to a new level of imposing. Kon almost laughed when he saw the giant penny. Almost.

Those must be Batman’s trophies then. Huh. He’d always thought Dick was embellishing or even outright lying when describing that part of the cave.

But none of it even held a candle to the Cave’s inhabitants.

Dick waved cheerily at Kon from his perch atop one of the many stalagmites, looking completely at home in the darkness despite the colorful accents on his costume. To his right, Steph sat on the ground looking somehow _wrong_ in the doom and gloom.

Cass on the other hand, fit right in. She stood directly behind Steph, allowing the blond to use her legs as a back rest. She was in full costume except for her mask, which was pulled down. They were all in a similar state, full costume, but no mask.

He almost laughed again at the thought of Batman painstakingly sending out a dress code for each family meeting. _On wednesdays, we wear pink…_

Jason was the only one not following the dress code. He was in full amour (a slightly newer version than the last time Kon saw him) complete with leather jacket and red bat symbol with his helmet off, but his eyes were still covered by a domino mask. Even from several feet away, he smelled like smoke.

Between him and his estranged father stood Selina. Kon’s eyes caught on her, going slightly wider at the sight of her skintight black costume. Noting the cat ears, Kon guessed that was what Tim had meant by ‘Catwoman’. Her relationship with Batman made even more sense now.

And there… there was Barbra.

Kon gulped.

He hadn’t seen her in ages, and here she was. Trademark hair pulled into a ponytail and glasses skewed slightly as she smiled at him. From her wheelchair.

Piecing together that something had happened to Babs hadn’t been hard. It was obvious from the scraps of conversation between Bats and her absence long past when a normal injury should have healed.

But it was one thing to _know _she’d received a career ending injury, and another to _see_ it.__

__  
_ _

He smiled tentatively back at her before letting himself continue his sweep of the room.

The centerpiece of the whole place was a massive computer that dwarfed even that of Mount Justice and sitting before it in a high back chair that had been turned to face the room, was Batman.

Batman who was currently staring at Kon with his Batglare turned up to around a seven.

Kon swallowed, suddenly remembering why he’d refrained from laughing.

“What are you doing here?” Batman growled.

Kon was saved the embarrassment of answering (he was frozen in place anyway) by Dick. “I invited him actually.”

Bruce’s gaze turned slowly to his eldest son, who met it with an easy smile. “This is a family meeting,” he pointed out with something between exasperation and warning.

Jason snorted, immediately commanding the attention of everyone in the room. “Family my ass, you lost the right to that word years ago. I ain’t here cause I’m part of a ‘family’,” he managed to make sarcastic air quotes look menacing, “I’m here for the replacement cause I know you’re gonna screw him up like you did the rest of us and I ain’t gonna let it happen again.”

The lines of Bruce’s face tightened, his dark eyebrows drawing together in what Kon could only assume was his version of a hurt expression. “Jason,” he started in a much gentler tone of voice.

But Jason beat him to the punch. “Don’t believe me? Why don’t you tell Kon why the Demon Brat isn’t here?”

Despite how awful Damian Wayne was when Kon had met him, a bolt of fear shot through him.

“What happened to Damian?”

Jason smirked at him, pleased he’d taken the bait. “He had to be removed from the situation for misconduct. AKA only thing he was interested in was convincin’ us not to waste our time on Timmy. That ain’t a family. That shit’s the kind of thing that makes a kid grow up hatin’ himself.”

“Yeah, that wasn’t what I meant,” Dick said, squeezing the bridge of his nose. “I asked Kon to be here because he deserves to be.”

Bruce stared at his lost son for a moment longer before turning his intense gaze on Dick. “Why?”

To everyone but Cass’ surprise, it was Stephanie who responded, “Because he noticed before all of you. He was the first person in this room to realize there was something wrong with Tim and actually decide to do something about it. I failed, I don’t think he will. So yeah Batbrains, he deserves to be in this room more than any of us.” She nodded to Kon in greeting, catching his eye to silently tell him they were _all_ behind him.

Her words echoed around the cavernous space, seemingly amplifing the silence that followed.

At length Bruce said, “Fine. He can stay.” Kon couldn’t help but notice that his voice was just as deep, but considerably less gravelly.

“Great,” Dick said, beaming at the assembled heroes. When no one made any more inturruptions, he let his smile melt seemlessly into a more serious expression. “I asked you all here today because we have reason to believe Tim’s parents are abusing him and evidence to support it.”

Oh. This was _that_ conversation. Kon had suspected, but Dick hadn’t actually specified what the meeting was about.

Kon crossed his arms, but made no move to sit. This was going to be awhile, but he couldn’t bring himself to put his guard down enough to sit.

“We’ve always known his parents were… distant, but recently we’ve had cause to believe it’s more like neglect.” Dick crossed to the computer, pulling up a few charts with times and dates Kon couldn’t quite follow. “Kon had his suspisions, so I looked into it. These are the flight plans I was able to get a hold of, plus public appearences for Tim’s parents. As you can see, they haven’t been home for more than a week at a time in years and there’s usually almost a month if not more between they’re visits. In that time, there’s nothing to suggest Tim had anyone else at the house with him. I found records of a housekeeper, but according to her contract, at least the parts I could get a hold of, she only stops by once a week to clean and deliver food. Most of her contract was an air tight NDA that will keep her quiet if we ask her to testify.”

So Dick _had_ listened to Kon.

“On top of that, I checked these dates with the ones that Tim has told us they’re home, and I noticed most of the time he gives himself an extra two days after they leave before returning to hero work. Tim has been taking days off. Voluntarily. This is just speculation, but there has to be a cause for that, and none of the reasons I could come up with are pretty.”

Kon thought of the day-old bruises covering Tim’s body.

“So at the least, we have enough evidence to know, if not prove, neglect. Unfortunately, that’s the best I could do in the way of hard evidence, but I found more evidence that proves Tim is hiding something.” Dick changed the screen on the computer again, showing a coding signature Kon didn’t understand. “There are flight logs he personally erased, all while his parents were home, and a few hospital visits that I have reason to believe were him based on the use of one of his alias’ and the matching description.”

The computer displayed the medical file for a Han Kyle. Kon looked just in time to see Selina’s mouth fall slightly open.

“The patient came in with a concussion, severe bruising, and glass stuck in his arm. The doctors concluded that they got mugged by a drunk using a broken bottle, but noted the kid was only fifteen. This was the same time Tim took that long vacation because ‘his parents were taking him on a dig’.”

Steph gasped quietly, covering her mouth with her hand to stifle the noise.

“There are other holes, days Tim’s teachers claim he wasn’t at school despite his record claiming perfect attendance, I couldn’t find a single person who had ever been to Tim’s house, and I took another look at his med charts, Tim has shown signs of being underfed since well before he became Robin. We all assumed it was because he was to focused on the Mission.” Dick looked around at the grave faces, all varying degrees of guilty.

How had they let this happen? “From there things get more murky. The best evidence we have is anecdotal. Kon, if you please.”

So that’s why he was really here.

Kon stepped forward, forgetting to be intimidated by the brood of Bats that swivelled to look at him. “I first noticed a month ago when he was supposed to be on vacation and Tim called me for help. He told me to never tell any of you about this, but considering the circumstances… He was bleeding out from a mugging that went sideways. I patched him up, but I noticed he had bruises that were old. He had to have gotten them before he put on the costume, while he was still at home. And he looked like he was on the verge of starvation. I also noted bruise patterns on his wrists that Jaime later identified as someone holding his arms above his head.”

Jason’s already still figure seemed to get tenser.

“When I was done and he was finally not dying, he had a panic attack because he got blood on the carpet and he kept saying ‘she’ was going to kill him if she found out. He made me promise to never tell anyone what happened. Later when I confronted him about it, he broke down on me. I’m not sure if it really was confidence issues, but it seemed to run a lot deeper. The kind of low self esteem that gets hammered into a kid when they’re really young. After that I don’t have anything specific, but the number of times I’ve heard Tim casually devalue his own life is alarming. Sometimes it seems like he’d be suicidal if he cared enough about his own life to take it. And he has some sort of fixation on being ‘useful’ that I think might be because of his parents.”

Kon fell silent, letting his audience absorb his meaning.

Selina sighed, wrapping her arms around herself. “Oh kitten, you poor thing.” She took a deep breath and continued in a louder voice, “I had my suspicions from the moment that kid showed up on my door, but he shut down whenever I tried to ask questions and refused any kind of help.” Her mouth twitched. “At first I thought he was a really nicely dressed street kid. I had already contacted my lawyer about the adoption papers before he told me he had a home and parents.”

Steph smiled softly. “What a world that would have been; a kitty cat Tim.”

“He named himself Stray,” Selina mentioned off handedly.

“What?” Bruce asked weakly, the first noise he’d made since Dick had begun.

Selina sighed. “It hardly matters anymore, but he had the costume designed, the name picked out, he’d decided on the gadgets he wanted… I’d finally sent the design to a seamstress friend of mine after he begged for months when-” she cut herself off, glancing sharply at Jason. “He stopped coming by after that, never even got to try it on. Didn’t lose touch though.” 

She smiled faintly at a memory. “I used to let him help plan jobs with me. Only the simplest stuff, nothing too hard and nothing he couldn’t just forget he’d seen, but he loved it. Treated a good security system like a puzzle.” She frowned. “It was uncanny sometimes, it was like he had this list in his head. Some people were okay to attack and some weren’t. I could never find the pattern. All the targets he gave me were rich, but some of them seemed perfectly reputable yet for some reason, Tim had deemed them okay to rob.” Her mouth twitched. “At least now I know why he insisted I never rob Bruce Wayne.”

She sighed. “I suppose I’ll never know for sure where the list came from. Maybe they were just the ones who were rude to him at galas or something.” Shrugging she dismissed the thought. “I always kind of hoped he’d switch back to being a cat when he graduated from Robin. He was so good at it.”

“Sometimes I think he wants to,” Kon whispered.

“What?”

He hadn’t meant to say that out loud.

Kon bit his lip. “It’s not important right now.”

They all shot him suspicious looks at that, but Steph swooped in to save him. “We need to figure out how to move forward. Tim’s in a relatively good place right now and he’s only getting better, but so far he’s rejected help from anyone who’s tried to offer it. When someone talks about his parents he shuts it down, and he’s already demonstrated he’s a pro at hiding this.”

“His case is too thin and the Drake’s are too high profile to take the meager evidence we have to court,” Dick said. “Child abuse cases are _extremely_ difficult if the child is uncooperative.”

The room fell silent again.

“Somethin’ ain’t right here,” Jason said abruptly, breaking the silence and drawing several surprised stares to him.

“There’s a lot of things that aren’t right here,” Dick pointed out dryly.

Jason’s gaze darted to him in annoyance, but his voice didn’t waver. “The clone said he had bruises on his wrists like someone was holdn’ his arms up and there are flight logs Tim _specifically_ covered up at times we think he was with his parents. Not to mention the list of people he decided were bad for an unknown reason? And awhile ago Bruce mentioned the way Tim’s parents were almost trying to _sell_ him at a gala.”

Steph figured it out first, inhaling sharply. “You can’t mean-”

“I don’t know, but why would abusive parents take their kids on field trips unless it was for a reason? Like to _see_ someone. And I think you know what the bruise patterns mean.”

Cass placed a protective hand on her girlfriend’s shoulder when Steph subconsciously rubbed her own wrists.

“What exactly are you suggesting?” Kon asked.

Jason stared right at him, and even though Kon couldn’t see through his domino, he could tell Jason’s eyes were getting a little green around the edges. “I’m _saying,_ that maybe we should add sexual abuse to the list of crimes.”

The room went impossibly still.

Kon had to force himself to breathe.

This couldn’t be real, that couldn’t be happening. Not- not _Tim._

“We need to talk to him. As soon as possible. How long can we delay his parents return?” Bruce said, finally speaking up.

Dick typed away on the computer. “A few weeks? At best? And that’s only if nothing unexpected comes up.”

“Cause we’re _always_ that lucky,” Jason muttered.

“Tim needs to know he’s loved. That we care about him. That the value of his life isn’t measured by how useful he is to us. That he doesn’t deserve to be abused. What’s happening to him is wrong and it needs to stop.” Babs spoke quietly, but her voice carried clearly to all of them. “I agree we need to help Tim, but ultimately this is and always will be his fight. This isn’t something we can take away from him and solve ourselves. He’d never forgive us, and he’d spend the rest of his life still believing he was… _lesser._ ”

Kon knew she was right, but every bone in his body told him never to let Tim near his parents ever again.

He squashed it. “She’s right. All we can do is support him. We can love him and make sure he knows it. We can try to give him the strength to do what he needs to. And we have to hope it’s enough.”

He caught a glint of green and yellow out of the corner of his eye, something moving above and far ahead, but when he looked, he didn’t see anything. It probably wasn’t important. 


	26. Visiting friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Previously…  
>  **Roy, freaking out and very not okay:** Of course I’m okay! My best friends are just sick and missing, nbd  
>  **Tim panicking because emotions:** I- uh  
>  **Venus, exasperated and so done with the world:** Jesus just tell him his best friend is still alive, it’s that simple!  
>  Meanwhile…  
>  **Bats, finally coming together and realizing something’s wrong with Tim:** Shit we gotta do something  
>  **Kon sees a shady flash of color:** there’s no way THAT will _ever_ bite me in the ass…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think I'm going to keep doing the 'previously on' for all my chapters and maybe even go back and do the old chapters.

“Wowza. You guys need an Alfred. Have you thought about getting an Alfred?”

Roy shot Tim an annoyed look. “Of course we wish we had an Alfred, but everyone knows there’s only one Alfred and you Bats have him.”

“True. And if he saw this place,” Tim waved his free hand around to indicate the filthy apartment, “even Alfred would deem it a lost cause.”

Snorting, Roy stepped aside to let Tim and Venus in. “Please. No cause is too lost for Alfred. And just to be clear, I only let you in cause you have pizza.” He took the pizzas from Tim’s hands and opened the top one up, taking out a slice and biting in.

He moaned. “Holy hell I was about ready to suck a dick for something this good.”

Tim wiggled his eyebrows, but Roy just scoffed. “Not _your_ dick twerp. You’re too much of a pipsqueak to be trading pizza for sex.”

He looked like he might have ruffled Tim’s hair and given him a noogie if his hands weren’t full. He took another bite of pizza-

-and finally noticed Venus.

His chewing slowed and he stepped slightly closer to Tim, leaning in to stage whisper, “Who is she?” He gestured to Venus with his slice of pizza.

Tim smiled smugly. “My friend.”

Roy glanced between them for a few moments before shoving the pizza boxes back into Tim’s arms and putting his pizza slice on top.

He swallowed hard and plastered a smile on his face, ignoring his dishevelled appearance.

Venus couldn’t help but smile in amusement at how ridiculous he looked, but Roy just seemed to take that as encouragement. He kissed her hand, bowing low in an almost gentlemanly gesture, introducing himself as: “Harper. Roy Harper. And you,” he winked, “are _gorgeous._ ”

Venus leaned in a little closer as if to whisper a secret to Roy’s upturned face. “And you have pizza sauce on your face.”

Roy jerked away, wiping at his face.

She laughed, an unlady like snort sneaking in.

This time Roy smiled at her more softly, seeming to enjoy having made someone laugh, even if it was at him.

Tim hated to bring down the mood, but… “How’s Kori?”

Roy’s smile slipped away as he took the pizza back and continued eating it with a frown. “She’s awake now and definitely getting better. The creep that hurt her is tied up and unconscious in our dungeon, but I still feel like we’re letting him off easy.”

For once Tim’s Red Robin grin was a reassuring response. “Trust me. He’ll get what he deserves.”

Roy looked at him for a long time, his expression closed off as he studied the young man in front of him. He’d never been close to Tim, but seeing the little kid who had stolen Jason’s title all grown up and somehow vaguely terrifying made Roy feel immensely old.

After a pregnant pause he merely nodded his gratitude and said, “Follow me.”

Unlike the rest of the apartment, the room he led them to was neat and clearly regularly cleaned. The wide windows had colored curtains that were thrown open to allow sunlight to stream in, and the covers looked soft with a fluffy, brightly colored duvet. There was a spotless vanity against the wall and a night stand with a glass of water on it.

Kori seemed to light up the room almost as much as the window. Her hair wound around her shoulder and piled in her lap. Her green eyes were certainly dimmer than usual, but they were still bright, and she managed to smile at them when they entered.

“Hello, little one. It is good to see you.”

Tim smiled sadly back at her. “It’s good to see you too. How are you feeling?” He tried valiantly to stop his eyes from dropping meaningfully to the bandages wrapped around Kori’s stomach, but in the end he couldn’t quite help himself. 

Taking her greeting as permission to enter the room, he walked around to sit down next to her on the bed.

Roy fidgeted in the doorway, holding the pizza boxes but seemingly unsure of if he should leave them alone or not. Ignoring his uncertainty, Venus quietly slipped past him and went for the corner of the room, making herself small and nondescript.

“I am feeling much better.” Kori leaned in to whisper conspiratorially, “The boys have been overly worried about me, I believe the human term is ‘mother henning’.”

“Hey!” Roy complained.

She laughed and despite himself, Roy smiled back.

Tim laughed with them for a moment before turning to Roy. “You should really get some sleep. We have things under control here.”

Roy hesitated, his brow furrowing, torn between the inexorable pull of his own bedroom and the need to stick by his friend.

“It is okay my friend, Jason’s kin is trustworthy and will be an adequate substitute for your company.” Kori smiled at him and sniffed pointedly. “Your _malodorous_ company.”

Roy blushed faintly, sniffing at himself. “Okay, fine. You win. I’ll take a shower and a nap. Don’t leave without saying goodbye.” He handed one of the pizza boxes over to Venus and took the other one with him as he left the room.

Kori sighed. “I’m worried about him.”

Frowning, Tim turned back to her. “Has something happened?”

“I suppose not, but that doesn’t mean nothing’s wrong.”

Well, she had him there.

“So, are you going to introduce me to your friend?” Kori prompted, once again smiling.

Of course, where were his manners? “Princess Koriand’r of Tamaran, meet my friend Venus. She’s new in town.”

Kori smiled welcomingly. “I am always happy to meet another beautiful woman in this line of work.”

Venus laughed softly. “Likewise, but I’m afraid I’m not _in_ your line of work.”

Kori’s interest was peaked, but thankfully she didn’t ask any more questions. “I smell pizza.”

Beaming, Venus stepped forward to offer Kori the pizza, and sat down on the bed across from Tim. Unfortunately for him, the conversation quickly turned to examining the similarities and differences between him and Jason.

Tim stuck around, adding in a comment here and there and generally enjoying the amiable atmosphere growing between the women. It was wonderful to watch Venus have such a normal conversation. She needed more normalcy.

“Kori, would it be okay if I ran a few errands? I’ll be back before Roy wakes up, and Venus can stay. There’s just something I need to take care of.”

“Of course Tim. You are under no obligation to stay and I quite enjoy Venus’ company,” she said kindly.

“Sorry for the short visit,” he said apologetically, hugging her carefully on his way out.

He hated to leave her, he really did, but he _did_ need to run some errands. There was something he needed to pick up and he needed to do it alone.

Besides, as unethical as his plan was, it didn’t break the one rule and it was the kind of compromise even Bruce couldn’t totally disapprove of if he were in Tim’s position. In theory.

And theory was all well and good, but if Bruce got his hands on the particular information Tim planned to barter with… 

Well to put it lightly, walking into a League of Assassins base to speak with a woman who’s kill count was higher than the population of Gotham would seem like a cake walk next to what might happen if Tim wasn’t very _very_ careful.

***

Honestly, it was all Todd’s fault.

He had provoked Damian by insinuating he was a lesser Robin and only kept around due to Father’s guilt, so of course Damian had been in a foul mood. He had spoken more harshly than was necessary, and he hadn’t _really_ meant to say that about Drake. But why would father spend so much time on an _ex_ -Robin. He was hardly important when father now had _Damian_ at his side.

Or at least, that’s what Damian had been thinking when he’d spoken… impulsively.

It wasn’t like he’d known there was a _purpose_ to the meeting. He’d assumed it was more of Drake’s ridiculous teenage hormones impedeing the efficiency of _Damian’s_ family.

And then his father had had the audacity to banish Damian to be babysat by Pennyworth while the adults spoke! Even the clone was there, but they had sent _Damian_ away.

So naturally Damian had snuck back in so he could listen to whatever nonsense went on.

What he’d overheard… 

It was simply ridiculous. Drake’s parents were his _blood._ And one could not argue with or run from their blood. Damian knew that better than most.

It was a waste of time to stand around and argue about the intent of Drake’s parents and throw around words like ‘abusive’ when Drake was clearly fine. Drake understood that blood was final. It was a bond above all others and not something that could be broken simply because it was ‘unhealthy’.

Mothers always knew best and if that was how Mrs. Drake chose to raise her son, it was a family matter.

And maybe Damian’s thoughts were chased by the memory of Mother’s blade against his throat, but that was just what mothers were like sometimes.

Then again, Grayson wasn’t Damian’s blood and he’d already let himself admit Grayson was more family than Mother would ever be.

And being alone that long… 

Damian still had nightmares about Mother’s ‘time outs’. The blackness of the dark and the silence that pressed in on all sides… 

_Allaena_ , not even Drake deserved that.

Damian tried to analyze the problem from all angles, looking for the best way to kill it like mother had taught him, but it all returned to one point.

Drake wouldn’t want his help, but when had Damian ever cared about what Drake wanted?

***

A couple hours later Tim crawled back through Kori’s window far more dishevelled than when he left.

“I’m back. Sorry that took so long, traffic was hell.”

“We were starting to get worried,” Venus said, noting his messenger bag looked a little fuller.

Tim smiled apologetically. “Sorry for that, but I’m afraid we can’t stay long. Kori do you mind if I use your bathroom to change?”

“Go ahead.”

When Tim got back he was decked out in full Stray gear.

Kori whistled. “I had no idea you owned something like _that._ ”

Tim pulled on his leather jacket and cap, praying Kori didn’t realize the significance of the cat ears. He left his goggles resting on his forehead. “You know what they say, ‘an outfit for every occasion’. I’m going to have to ask you not to mention this to anyone.”

“Of course not.” Kori’s eyes danced playfully, but she turned to Venus instead. “Is your outfit good for this ‘occasion’ or would you be interested in borrowing something? You are a little smaller than me, but most of my clothes are quite tight, so we could probably find something that fits you anyway.”

Venus looked shocked. “I uh…” She glanced down at her dress. It was the one she’d showed up on Tim’s doorstep in. “I might be a little cold actually.”

The women banished Tim to the living room to wait while they picked out an outfit for Venus.

Tim didn’t mind. He pulled out his phone- a good one, not a burner- and checked his email.

He’d just reached the end of his feed when Venus walked in.

She was wearing tight leather pants and a loose tank top that laced up in the front to match with her own leather jacket. Her hair was piled on top of her head in a carefully done bun, held back with a bright red bandana that matched her lipstick. But the icing on top of the cake, the clearest ‘fuck you’ Venus could send Thalia, was the bright yellow red robin symbol on her chest.

“You like? Kori said she bought it just to get under Jason’s skin, but I thought it would serve my purposes just as well.”

Tim laughed. “You look gorgeous.”

Behind her Roy opened his door, stepping groggily out. “What’s goin’ on?” he slurred.

“We were just getting ready to go,” Tim said. “I’m sorry we have to go so soon, but we have an appointment to catch.”

Roy yawned. “No no, you’re fine. Thanks for letting me… sleep.” His words stuttered to a halt as he finally got a good look at his two guests. “What are you wearing?”

“Me or her?” Tim asked, smiling at him where he stopped in the doorway.

“Um…“ Roy’s head swivelled. “Both?”

“It’s a special occasion,” Tim answered simply.

“Right… ” Roy drawled. “Yeah, I’m not gonna stick my nose in that.”

“Good choice.” Tim stood up. “Mind taking me to your ‘dungeon’ so we can take out the trash?” And wasn’t that just a fun sentence.

Shrugging, Roy turned around and lead them halfway down the hallway. The door he stopped at looked exactly the same as the others with off-white paint over old wood. The only difference was this one had a keypad instead of a knob.

Roy quickly punched in the code and the door swung open. The room was made of metal and had soundproofing lining every wall, but no furnishings. In a far corner, propped up against the wall like a marinette who’s strings had been cut, was the man Tim was looking for.

True to Roy’s word, his face was every color but the one it should be and his arm was bent at an odd angle, but he didn’t look like he was in threat of dying so Tim didn’t particularly care.

Roy shuffled away and came back with an old beat up wheelchair. “You can move him in this.”

Tim thanked him and together the heaved the man into the chair. He didn’t so much as twitch. “What’d you use on this guy, an elephant trank?” Tim asked, his breathing slightly labored from the physical exertion.

Roy snorted. “Nerely. Dude did not go down easy.”

They walked back toward the front door, Venus pushing the wheelchair.

“It was good seeing you Roy,” Tim said earnestly, shaking the other man’s hand. “If you ever need anything, let me know. Jason can be ridiculously bullheaded about asking for help, so if you ever need me, just remind him we’re… family.” Tim swallowed. “Or whatever, point is, I’m here for you guys if you need it.”

Roy narrowed his eyes suspiciously. “You do realize we spend half our time on Batman’s shit list.”

Tim’s mouth twitched. “Considering the week I’ve had, I’d be quite the hypocrite to be too bothered by that.”

Laughing, Roy shook his head. “Okay. I’ll keep it in mind twerp. Just remember it’s a two way street.”

Nodding, Tim let his hand drop. “Keep me updated on Kori’s progress.” Venus was already out the door when Tim paused and turned back to say one last thing. “Jason… he’s been through a lot.” 

Roy tensed, the muscle in his jaw jumping and his features falling carefully blank.

Tim swallowed, meeting Roy’s eyes with an equally careful gaze. “You know that better than anyone and I just want to say… thanks. I don’t know where he’d be without you- both of you. You make him a better person and frankly, I think you’ve kept him alive. I don’t know if he’s ever told you that, so I figured you should hear it from someone. Thanks.”

Roy’s eyes widened in shock and Tim couldn’t help but wonder what he’d been expecting Tim to say. Perhaps he’d been anticipating some sort of shovel talk or a ‘get away from my brother’? Whatever, it didn’t matter.

He nodded one last time to Roy and without waiting for a response, he ducked out the door, closing it behind him.

As the waited for the elevator, Venus murmured, “See, you _can_ handle emotions. You just needed time to plan.”

Tim laughed. “Lucky me. Next time someone’s crying I’ll just ask them to wait 3-5 business days for me to comfort them.”

Venus smiled, but she didn’t respond.

Getting the assassin into the trunk of Tim’s car proved to be a challenge for the two, but they managed it in the end.

They climbed into the car and Tim wasted no time starting it and pulling out of the parking lot.

“We should give Mercury an update, I’m not crazy about her being alone at the mansion.”

“You don’t trust her?” Venus’ voice was carefully neutral.

“More like I’m worried she’ll get bored and turn my kitchen into a meth lab.”

Venus laughed, “Okay fair.”

”Phone’s in my jacket pocket.”

Venus pulled his phone out of his pocket and called the number that went through his computer, putting it on speaker phone and holding it between them.

They waited while it rang and Tim had a sudden image of Mercury cussing as she crashed through the house trying to get to the computer. He smirked.

“ _Shit how does this thing- V? Tim?_ ” Mercury’s voice crackled across the line.

“We can hear you loud and clear Merc,” Venus said, amusement lacing her words.

“ _Nice! So what’s up?_ ”

“We just got done at the Outlaw’s and we’re headed to our next stop. We just thought we’d check in.”

“ _Oh. That’s nice. How are they?_ ”

“Alright. Arsenal was exhausted, but Starfire is healing well. She’s a wonderful conversationalist as well.”

“ _It’s always good to know your heroes aren’t jerks in real life._ ”

“Jury’s still out on Red Hood and Arsenal,” Tim said.

The girls laughed.

The conversation flowed for a few minutes, and Tim mostly stayed out of it, only adding a comment here and there.

“Merc, it’s been really awesome getting to know you. You’re like, the only normal person I’ve met except Timmy here.”

“ _Aw thanks Venus._ ”

Venus turned off speakerphone and brought the device to her ear instead. “And I just wanted to say… ” Tim didn’t mind. This was between Mercury and Venus. Whatever Venus did or did not tell Mercury was her business.

Instead he spent the drive painstakingly opening the box that he’d so carefully tucked away in the corner of his mind. He’d always been good at compartmentalizing, but the thing about compartments was that a) they could overflow and b) they had to be dealt with eventually.

He thought about Venus. He went back to the night Kon had been kidnapped, and he replayed it in his mind. He let himself sink into those feelings of anger and fear- especially the fear. He embraced it. He thought about the look in Venus’ eyes and the venom in her voice when she’d snapped at him that first night.

He thought about the leer on Ra’s face when he told Tim how _smart_ he was, how he could do great things without Batman’s limitations.

Ra’s miscalculated that day.

Tim did not and would never be anyone’s slave. Never again.

And he didn’t need Ra’s to do great things. He didn’t need Ra’s to destroy his enemies, he had his own ways of doing that.

Tim let the ice spread through him. He let it numb his limbs and clear his mind. But his heart burned with a fire hotter than the sun. This was not a rage born from fear and desperation. It was a rage he chose to let in so that he could protect the people he cared about.

It was a rage that was going to save Venus’ life and make the League of Assassins think twice about targeting the people he loved.

By the time they reached their destination, Venus had hung up.

Tim stared at the skyscraper in the middle of Gotham for several minutes. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“Thalia certainly has a… sense of irony.” Venus muttered, looking the tower up and down distastefully. “But this is the place.”

The ice seemed to shiver in anticipation, pulling Tim towards the building and the woman inside.

“Well then we best not keep her waiting.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I don’t speak arabic (not even close) but I think allaena translates to ‘curses’ or some sort of equivalent to a nice heartfelt ‘shit’.
> 
> I’d just like to say that I don’t like Damian very much. I sympathize with and pity him, but I find it really hard to get invested in a character that is really mean to everyone all the time with few signs of a softer side. I understand why he is that way, but he’s still harder for me to enjoy reading so he’s harder for me to write.
> 
> I’ll try to do him justice, but usually my attempts to write him come out more arrogant and bratty little brother than tortured soul who endured abuse, so please be patient with me.


	27. Dealing in Souls

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Roy, eternally worried about his friends and Not Okay ™:** Are you an arrow? ‘Cause you’re makin’ me quiver  
>  **Kori, stuck in eternal amusement at the ridiculousness of humans:** Who’s the girl?  
>  **Venus, low key awestruck by Kori’s awesomeness:** Venus, a fellow gorgeous female  
>  **Damian:** Tt- Drake is an idiot. Blood is blood  
>  **Damian:** … but being abused sucks…  
>  **Tim being shady af and going on side quests alone:** I really hope I don’t accidently fuck everything up…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know that feeling? Where you don’t lose inspiration for something per se, but you suddenly have a really good idea for a completely different project? Because I can’t stop thinking about this one AU that I really want to write about and it’s making it hard to write this… But don’t worry, I promised myself I’d finish this before I start that!

“Timothy darling, it’s so _good_ to see you.”

Tim rested his elbows on the wheelchair he’d pushed in, crossing his legs casually and grinning lazily back at her. “Good to be seen.” The unconscious assassin in front of him didn’t even twitch.

Thalia sat poised at the head of the conference room, looking more like a queen on a throne than an assassin on an office chair. Ninjas lined the walls, their eyes seeming to follow Tim’s every move in perfect, and admittedly creepy, synchronization. He ignored them.

When her eyes flicked to Venus, Thalia’s face twisted into an expression of outrage, but it quickly smoothed back over and she returned her gaze to Tim, refusing to even acknowledge Venus or her traitorous clothing.

Her voice was deceptively smooth as she said, “A whole week; I have to say I expected better from my beloved’s third pet project, but I suppose it’s not bad.”

Tim smiled even wider. “I would have been here sooner, but I wanted to make sure I looked good to see someone as esteemed as yourself.”

Quirking an eyebrow at his obvious use of flattery, Thalia allowed herself a playful smirk. “I see you have brought me one of my father’s generals, but surely you are as a aware as I that even my best will be unable to extract any information from him.”

“Normally, you would be correct,” Tim conceded, “but have I ever been _normal?_ ”

Thalia studied him carefully. “Perhaps not.” She rested her head elegantly on one hand, leaning her elbow against the armrest of her chair. Her eyes whispered a challenge, _go on, impress me._

Tim had taken the long elevator ride as a chance to make a few guesses as to why Thalia would do something as stupid as hold this meeting in a Gotham office building. The best he could come up with was that she was trying to put him off balance, using the home field advantage against him because she knew he was trying to hide this from Bruce. She wanted him to be paranoid, looking over his shoulder in fear of his allies so he missed any blades she chose to stab him with.

But the joke was on her. Tim had been learning to work a boardroom since before he could walk.

Reaching for the messenger bag at his hip, Tim froze when the ninjas lining the board room moved as one, dropping into fighting stances, their hands going to their weapons. He waited until Thalia put up a hand for them to stand down before continuing.

He pulled out a small vial of blue liquid.

“This should… butter him up enough to tell you everything you wish to know.” The ice crept into his voice and his smile as he purred, “ _Everything._ ”

Thalia’s eyes flicked to the vial before returning to his face. “Truth serum will hardly work on anyone my father employs. We have trained for such things since birth,” she said dismissively.

Nodding, Tim pointed out, “You have trained for things _like_ this, but I can promise you, this will work on anyone in the League of Assassins. It is the only dose of its kind, and it’s different enough from all existing strains that your poison conditioning doesn’t cover it.”

Thalia’s gaze returned hungrily to the vial. “A dangerous item to gift someone you do not trust.”

“Hardly,” he shrugged. “I spoke with the chemist myself, this is a small enough dose you can only use it once and there isn’t enough for your scientists to replicate it. Naturally, you could choose not to use it on him,” Tim pointed at the man still unconscious in the wheelchair, “but that’s your business. I have fulfilled my favor and I officially deem this proper revenge on Ra’s.” He smiled in challenge.

“What exactly did my father do to earn such ire from you?” Thalia asked, motioning for one of her men to take the vial and the wheelchair from Tim.

“Besides being a creep? He thought he could turn me against my friends and then he attacked one of them.” Tim didn’t bother lying or pleading the 5th when Thalia undoubtedly already knew. She just wanted to see what he’d say. “I’m afraid unlike some of my coworkers, I do believe in revenge.”

“Is that why you are dressed so?”

Tim made a point of looking down at his outfit. “One does tire of wearing the same thing to every ass-kicking.”

Thalia looked away from Tim to examine her father’s underling. “I know this one,” she said coldly. “He has fought by my father’s side for many, _many_ years. He will have the information I need - _if_ we are able to extract it from him.”

She looked at the ninja that had brought the wheelchair. “Wake him up.” He bowed to her and left, only to return in a few moments with another syringe.

He yanked up the unconscious man’s sleeve, sticking the syringe in and administering the chemicals within. The ninja backed away as the general’s eyes suddenly flew open, darting around the room in panic, but he didn’t cry out.

Tim forced his face into passiveness. He should have realized Thalia wouldn’t just take his word for it.

With a second nod from Thalia, the ninja stuck another syringe into the bottle and filled it up with the blue liquid, emptying the vial. Tim couldn’t help himself from remembering the way Mercury had avoided his gaze when talking about how much the truth serum hurt.

It took less than 30 efficient seconds for the ninja to empty the syringe into the general.

”And now, we wait.” Thalia smiled, her eyes boring into Tim’s. He didn’t let any emotion show on his face other than bored indifference.

As he counted out the seconds, the whole room seemed to hold its breath.

And at the 68 second mark, the League Assassin, trained to hold out against the most _excruciating_ torture tactics in the world, grunted in pain.

”I assume that would be the serum kicking in,” Thalia said innocently, turning her penetrating gaze from Tim to the general. “What is your name?”

He kept his mouth shut, murderous eyes darting around the room. His breathing was getting heavier and heavier until he was panting like a pug after a long run in the sun. Finally he grit out, “Abd al Matin.”

”’Servant of the strong’ if I’m not mistaken,” Thalia translated, her face giving away _exactly_ what she thought about that name. “How long have you worked for my father?”

Once again Abd struggled to keep his mouth closed, fighting until the veins on his neck throbbed and Tim was genuinely scared he’d chip his own teeth from gritting them so hard. “47 years.” He fell back against the wheelchair, his breathing hard and his expression the picture of bliss.

He supposed it made sense. The serum attacked the pain centers of the brain, making the victim hurt until they couldn’t remember why it was wrong to tell the truth, but once they gave in it rewarded them with a shock of dopamine until they stopped trying to lie at all. Almost as if it was training a dog only with much higher stakes.

”Do you have a family?”

This time no amount of League training could stop Abd from panicking. His eyes went wide and jumped around the room, but no longer in threat. He was searching for someone who would help him. He jerked on his restraints, trying to pull them loose.

Suddenly he saw Tim. “ _Please,_ ” he ground out, clearly having to fight twice as hard to say something that wasn’t answering the question. “ _Help me._ ”

He didn’t have the strength to plead further though. “A mistress. She fled when she learned she was with child. She and our daughter are hidden far, far away where the demon can never find them.”

”We’ll see about that,” Thalia purred. With a flick of her wrist she added, “Take him away and finish his interrogation elsewhere. You know what I need from him. Make sure you get it.”

The ninja bowed to her deeply and began wheeling Abd away. He fought against his restraints even harder, screaming, “Help me hero! You’re supposed to protect people! You wouldn’t just hand me over to this monster! They’re-” he was cut off when the door suddenly slammed closed.

Tim stared after him, feeling like a piece of his soul had been crushed in the doorway. He tried to think of Kori, bedridden and recovering from the brink of death. Of Roy with his blood shot eyes and fear. Of the number of deaths he’d linked to the guy. Of anything but his screamed pleas.

Not bothering to comment on what had just happened, Thalia said, “This concludes our business with each other, I trust none of this will ever reach my beloved’s ears and we will hopefully not see each other again for a very long time.”

As far as dismissals went, it wasn’t the worst Tim had ever gotten and it did well to pull him back to the present.

He smiled at her apologetically, straightening out the rest of his thoughts and tucking away the guilt that was beginning to consume him for when Venus’ life wasn’t on the line. “Well actually,” he felt the entire room hold its breath, leaning slightly closer to see what he would say next, “we’re not done here.”

Thalia’s smile got even more forced. “Whatever do you mean?”

Tim looked back at Venus, holding out a hand. She took it carefully, letting him pull her forward to stand beside him. “About Venus-”

“Ah I see,” Thalia cut him off with a knowing smile. “You wish to ask for more time with my courier. Have you perhaps fallen in love? Or is she just that good at pleasing you?”

Tim’s face went blank, the ice beginning to spread through him again.

Thalia continued obliviously, “I must say I am slightly surprised. I never expected _you_ to be interested in the whole slave girl routine, I honestly expected you to hold out, but every once in awhile the twistedness of some people can catch even me off guard. Although a pretty boy like you, and rich too, I’d think it would be easy for you to fill your bed.”

Tim let the silence stretch. “Are you done?”

Smirking in amusement, Thalia said, “Quite. I believe we can work out some sort of price for-”

“No.”

Thalia froze. “What?”

“There won’t be a price because Venus won’t be coming back. Ever.”

Her face clouded with rage. “You insolent- you actually fell in love with her? In a week?”

“Not quite,” Tim said smiling. “But I won’t be sending her back to be used and violated. I refuse to let you continue to hurt her.”

Thalia’s smile was the kind of serpentlike mask that set alarm bells ringing in Tim’s skull. “And how does Venus feel about this?”

Tim squeezed her hand where he was still holding it in his, offering her his silent support.

“I have spent my whole life in your service, _Thalia_ ,” a ripple spread through the room at Venus’ disrespect. “I intend to spend not a second more. You have twisted and scared me in irreversible ways, but here I make my decision. To accept what has happened to me and to take the help I’ve been offered instead of writing myself off as too broken to be saved. Despite your best efforts, I am still human and I have no intention of wasting my life doing unspeakable things just to survive. I’m taking my life into my own hands and I’m going to go _live it._ ” She spat on the ground. “Which means I’m never going to see your ugly face again.”

Thalia seethed, seeming to grow in size as she stared down her nose at the two of them. “ _How dare you fill my servant’s head with such nonsense?_ ” she hissed.

Leave it to an egomaniac sociopath to make Venus’ moment someone else’s fault.

“How dare _you_ fill my head with knowledge about how to pleasure a man before I even learned what the sea looked like?” Venus hissed right back.

As the ninjas stepped in front of the doorways to block their exits, Thalia snarled, “This disrespect will _not_ stand. If you no longer wish to serve me, then you can _die in disgrace._ ”

Tim smiled. “You won’t be laying a finger on her.”

Scoffing, the Demon’s daughter raised her eyebrows. “And how exactly do you intend to defend her against several of my best, let alone myself? You are a talented detective, you may even surpass my beloved one day, but you hardly possess the fighting prowess necessary to protect my courier.”

“Oh I won’t have to fight your overglorified bodyguards. You’re going to dismiss them.”

“What?” Thalia growled, low and dangerous.

Tim let the ice take control, sinking into it. It sharpened his smile and made his words cut like knives. “You heard me.”

Annoyance and suspicion crept into Thalia’s voice. “And why would I do that?”

“I was hoping you might ask that.” This time he ignored the swords being drawn all around the room as he reached into his messenger bag. He pulled out a simple unmarked file and placed it on the table.

He waited until everyone in the room had their attention glued to the orange envelope before sliding it down the table to Thalia.

“I was worried our meeting might bore you, so I brought you some light reading.”

She opened it suspiciously, her eyes trained on him until she had the papers out. She scanned the first document, her face freezing.

“Where did you get this?” she whispered, her voice deadly quiet and full of well hidden fear.

Tim sighed, glancing pointedly at the ninjas.

Catching his look, Thalia ordered just as quietly, “Leave us.”

The ninjas glanced at each other uncertainly. Thalia surged to her feet, finally losing her composure as she slammed her fists down onto the table and screamed, “LEAVE US!”

The ninjas hurried to comply and in a matter of seconds, they were alone.

“Now where. Did. You. _Get this?_ ” she hissed.

Tim shrugged nonchalantly, dragging a finger across the hard lacquered wood of the table as he prowled closer.

“Bruce may be the world’s greatest detective, but he is… blind to some things. Despite his paranoia. I make it my business to know the things he doesn’t want to.” He stopped just out of range of her katana.

“Why didn’t you tell him already?” she asked.

“It wouldn’t do anyone any good.” He sat down, still out of Thalia’s range, and folded his hands together, watching her over his fingertips.

“So what? Are you threatening to release this information? You would never do something like that. It would hurt my beloved too much.”

“The truth is never good or evil. It is only the truth. And Bruce would recover. In fact, I’m willing to bet this information discovered in the right way could bring him even closer to his sons, but you.” Tim laughed humorlessly. “How much do you think it takes to drive him over the edge? I don’t pretend to know, but I’d hazard a guess that this would get him pretty damn close. You might not be important enough for him to kill, but don’t you think he might find it in himself to finally eradicate the League of Assassins?”

“He wouldn’t dare.” But her voice was laced with doubt.

“When Jason died - your father’s fault almost as much as the Joker’s, by the way - do you know how close to the edge Bruce got? I’m sure you were watching. And so I’m sure you know it was me who pulled him back from that ledge. So consider for a moment, with everything he has to lose, what would he do with that information.” Tim gave her a moment to create her own nightmares before he pushed his point home. “He would tear you down brick by backstabbing brick.”

“Bruce may recover from the shock, but would Damian? Jason? Dick, for that matter?” Thalia asked, scrambling for some sort of lifeline.

Tim narrowed his eyes at her. “I’m sure your spies have told you by now precisely how I feel about your son. And I’m not exactly best friends with Jason either. As for Dick, I have faith this is far enough removed from him that he can recover.”

Thalia stared down at the documents again. “I could just kill you and burn this,” she mused.

“Try it. Electronic copies would be sent to the Batcave before you could even hide my body.”

Finally, she turned her gaze back to him. Searching his face for an signs of doubt or hesitation. She came up empty. “How can _you_ \- a so called _hero_ \- sit there and blackmail me with information that could destroy you and everyone you love? How can you bargain with lives over a _whore_ like her?” Thalia’s gaze turned on Venus, burning with rage. She missed Tim’s shoulders tensing at the word.

“With this information, you could ask me for anything.” She continued, eyes narrowing. “Yet you bargain for one life, and a meaningless one at that.”

“Her life isn’t meaningless to me.” Tim answered quietly, anger curling in his gut. “And the fact that you think that is exactly why I’m doing this.”

Thalia turned her gaze back to him. “Fine,” she snarled, “you can take the girl.”

“Wonderful.” Tim stood up, scooping up the papers Talia had removed from the envelope and replacing them. When he was done, he slipped it into his bag and looked back at Thalia one last time with an expression of cold detachment. “If you ever so much as get _near_ her again, I will release this information and sit back with popcorn while you _burn._ ”

He turned on his heel and left the room.

Venus flipped Talia off on their way out.

Tim maintained his composure and the icy expression on the elevator ride down, out to the car, and on the drive across Gotham as they wound their way through the streets, shaking any tails that might have followed them. He finally pulled into an empty parking garage near Drake Industries and got out to quickly sweep the vehicle for any trackers or listening devices. He found none.

And then Tim lost it.

He collapsed against the hood, each gasp of air seemed harder than the last. His head was fogging up as the ice melted and left him with shaking hands. The calm clarity he’d had merely minutes before was falling apart as he realized the weight of everything he’d just done, everything he’d risked with that stupid gamble.

Venus got out and stood beside him, pulling him towards her until he could bury his face in her shoulder.

She pet his hair carefully. “That was… even more dramatic than I was expecting.”

Tim snorted, catching his breath long enough to respond, “I always am.”

“Do you want to talk about it?” she asked carefully.

Tim shook his head.

The silence between them was such a stark contrast to the screaming Tim could still hear echoing in his head, that it felt like he was in space. An endless vacuum sucking the air out of his lungs and boiling him alive. He couldn’t think, he couldn’t breath, he couldn’t function.

He needed- he needed- shit, he didn’t know what he needed. Time? A do over? The nearest speedster? Air?

His head was starting to feel like a broken record, trying to move forward with some line of thought, trying to find some kind of solution, but instead just replaying the same meaningless words and sounds over and over.

He was vaguely aware Venus was murmuring to him, but he couldn’t hear her over the sound of his own labored breathing and even if he could, the screaming in his head would have drowned her out.

Was this what he was? Some useless piece of shit that was going to go and have a fucking panic attack after every mission from now on? That had gone remarkably well, yet here he was, freaking out to someone he hadn’t even known two weeks ago.

Tim’s thoughts skipped and circled and replayed and skipped again, completely unable to form a single logical sentence without giving up halfway through and jumping to the next fragment.

He honestly had no idea how much time had passed by the time his breathing was starting to slow. It felt like an eternity, and for all he knew, it could have been.

His eyes were still perfectly dry.

Pulling away from Venus at last, he ignored the concerned look in her eyes, instead going to the car and rooting around in his messenger bag for the envelope and a lighter.

The paper burned beautifully, bringing some warmth back to his fingers and washing both of them in a warm orange glow. He watched the fire dance until the flames got so close to his hand, he was forced to drop it. There was something calming about the hypnotic colors he saw there.

It was nothing more than embers when Venus asked, “Would you really have done it? Will you really? If she breaks her promise?”

Even in the parking garage, surrounded by concrete walls Tim could sense the city all around them. Police sirens echoed through the space, mixing with honking horns and revving engines. It was hard to tell if the smell of smoke was from the burning papers or just regular Gotham smog. Either way, this was his home. He could feel it in every fiber of his being in much the same way he’d always known Drake Manor wasn’t, even if he hadn’t been able to admit that.

“No.”

Venus looked at him out of the corner of her eye.

“I was bluffing. Bruce can _never_ know. It simply isn’t worth the risk.” He kicked the ashes until they scattered. “But Thalia doesn’t know that and she never will. This will become another secret in my vault. Another story I’ll never tell.” It would probably weigh on him for the rest of his life, but that was okay. “Come on. Let’s get home. Tomorrow you and Mercury are shipping out to a lab in Colorado to start your research.”

He turned to walk around to the car door, but Venus caught his sleeve. “Tim?” he stopped, turning his head slightly to look at her out of the corner of his eye. “ _Thank you._ ”

She pulled him into another bone crushing hug, this one more about her clinging to him than the other way around. He hadn’t realize how much she’d been holding it together for him until she buried her face in his shoulder and he felt wetness there. “ _Thank you._ ”

Tim hugged her back, grabbing on to the back of her leather jacket with one hand and placing the other one on the back of her head to cradle it. He didn’t say anything. He just held her.

He thought about the things she’d said to her abuser. The strength it must have taken to walk into that board room and tell Talia to go fuck herself. To reclaim her life and at the same time acknowledge the scars that she would carry with her forever.

She had admitted to the horrible things she’d been forced to do, and judged herself still worthy of saving. She had decided not to give up on her own happiness, no matter how far away it seemed.

If she could do that, why couldn’t he?

If Venus could stand up to her abuser and get her life back… then maybe - _just maybe_ \- Tim could too.

Venus finally pulled away, sniffling slightly she wiped her nose on her hand. “Do you regret meeting me?”

Tim smiled softly at her. “Not for a second.” Sure he’d taken some stupid risks and she’d made his life a lot more complicated, but watching Star Wars with her and building blanket forts in his pajamas was pretty close to the happiest he’d ever been.

She bit her lip, trying to decide about something. Finally she said, “Minerva.”

“What?” he asked in confusion.

“Minerva,” Venus repeated smiling bashfully. “It’s the name my mother gave me before she died. Talia never knew about it. It was the only piece of the life I could have had that I was able to keep.”

Tim smiled back at her. “It’s beautiful.”

Blushing, she continued, “I chose Venus as an alias because it was… similar in a way, while being different enough I felt safe. It was the best way to hold onto that part of myself and claim a small piece of identity at the same time. It’s stupid, I know-”

“It’s not stupid, _Minerva,_ ” he tried out the name. “I think it suits you.”

Minerva smiled at him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> About the secret Tim threatened Thalia with, I decided it made sense not to reveal it because Thalia and Tim wouldn’t just say it out loud. So if you’re happy with that mystery stop reading now.
> 
> The idea stemmed from a crazy fan theory I read and was kinda like ‘wow, that would screw everybody and everything up big time while still changing nothing at all’, but basically, what if Damian wan’t Bruce’s son, but Jason’s? Long run, once they got over the shock, this info probably wouldn’t change the batfam that much, but when they first found out? Jason would take it very badly and I can only imagine how Bruce would feel. They would definitely take some of that out on Thalia. Damian himself would probably be revolted and go through a very big, character defining internal crisis.


	28. Deny, deny... explain?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Thalia, being a creeper as always:** I see you brought me a present  
>  **Tim, crawling in his skin, with a perfect poker face:** Well actually… I’d rather blackmail the shit out of you instead :) :) :) :)  
>  ***  
>  **Tim having a panic attack:** Shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit  
>  **Venus:** I’m not sure if this helps, but holy crap you just saved my life. Thank you and also, my name is actually Minerva  
>  **Tim:** … actually, that does help. Just a bit.

It all happened so fast.

Tim stared at the closed door and the empty hallway.

One minute Mercury was welcoming him home with a manic grin and a new theory on the whole curing cancer thing while V- Minerva rolled her eyes fondly and gently guided him to the screening room for the promised sleepover, and the next-

Empty kitchen, empty living room, empty bedrooms… 

-they were gone.

Tim hated that he hadn’t even been able to tell Minerva how much their time together had meant to him. He’d tried, but the words had gotten stuck in his throat and instead he’d just hugged her. 

Minerva understood. She just hugged him back and told him to visit whenever he could. The both knew he wouldn’t. At least, not for a while and not often.

Of all the things he was bad at, why was saying goodbye one of them?

At least they would be comfortable. Tim had made sure of that. He’d gotten them a cozy apartment near a shiny new lab that would keep Mercury busy until he could arrange to hire assistants. Minerva already had her first meeting with a pharmaceutical company scheduled for next month.

They would be just fine, they were both strong and eager to start their new lives together, but would he? The manor had never felt so quiet.

Tim shook himself, trying to ignore the panic that seemed to be building slowly in his gut. He’d never minded being alone before, but now that he was aware of it, it seemed so much worse.

He needed busy work. Well, actually what he really needed was, and he hated to admit this, other people. But that would inevitably result in running into Kon, who he was still avoiding after the whole truth serum debacle, so… plan B.

After they’d done so much to help him, he figured the least he could do was send a thank you to the Outlaws and Selina. He hummed thoughtfully as he wondered what might be considered an adequate gift.

A car was too much, but a card was too little.

Mother always said-

Nope. Nopity nope nope. Not doing that. Not when the silence was so loud and the loneliness so fresh. He had time, that could wait.

So instead of trying to sift through his complex and deeply internalized emotional trauma, he set about doing a little online shopping.

He took his time, carefully picking out each gift and ordering them. He decided to send it all to one of his safe houses instead of risking it showing up at the manor. 

When he was done, he sat back, proud of the outcome. He’d ended up ordering two gifts for each of them, a gag gift because he couldn’t help himself and a genuine one.

Kori had been easy. First he’d wanted to replace the shirt Venus had taken (it had been too small for Kori anyway) with another better fitting one. If it happened to have a newer version of the Red Robin symbol, well that was only to be expected.

Her real gift had taken a bit more research. She’d complimented Minerva profusely on her dress, complaining that something like that would never work with her body type. Minerva had told Tim what exactly Kori liked about the dress so he’d tracked down a similar one that was more suited to Kori’s… assets. It had pockets too.

That would have to be his next big project. Launching a fashion line that centered around putting pockets in women’s clothing. He’d call it… Pockets. His mouth twitched. He’d have to work on the name.

Tim had debated with himself for a long time about Roy’s gift. He wasn’t sure how good an idea it really was to put this kind of fire power in the archer’s hands, but in the end he decided to trust Roy. It was a new formula he’d been working on with Batman, Bruce had pretty much abandoned the project as not worth it, but Tim had asked Mercury to take a look at it anyway and was able to come up with something workable. It was just a formula, so Roy would have to synthesize the compound himself, but he figured the archer would appreciate it anyway.

He copied the formula down on a piece of paper in a code that would be fairly easy for Roy to figure out and placed it in an envelope. Later, when the rest of the gifts arrived and he was delivering them, he decided he would pick up an edible arrangement of chocolate that looked like roses and tuck the envelope underneath.

He hoped Jason would get in a few good jokes about Tim giving Roy a bouquet before they discovered the formula.

Jason had been a little trickier, but in the end it was simple. For the gag gift he’d gotten him a shakespearean novelization of _A New Hope._ Honestly, he wasn’t sure if Jason had even seen Star Wars, but hopefully if he hadn’t, this would encourage him to. It was also a not very subtle reminder that as different as they were, they made a good team. Considering how much Jason liked classical literature, Tim figured he’d probably get it.

The other part of Jason’s gift was way more expensive, but Tim knew it was worth it to buy Jason’s silence and hopefully some bro points. It was a complete leather bound set of Jane Austen’s works. He was pretty sure Jason’s set had been destroyed years ago and he was living off lones from Alfred, which were nice, but something told him Jason could use the sense of identity and stability owning belongings would give him. Or maybe he was just reading to much into it. Either way he knew Jason would enjoy the books and treat them right.

Selina had stumped him. All of them had the means to simply precure what they needed on their own, but Selina actually did that on a regular basis. She lived in the luxury she wanted. If something caught her eye, it was in her hand the next week. Because of that, he had to go a different route with her.

The obvious part was the pictures of him in costume she’d requested. He’d thought he would feel self conscious or stupid taking mirror pics in the skin tight catsuit, (despite the leather jacket and the belts, that’s essentially what it was) but then he’d turned on music and he had to admit, he looked good in black leather. It was kinda fun and he knew Selina would appreciate his sly smile.

He’d already promised her those for her help though, so it’s make a pretty crappy thank you. He could always steal her a necklace. Or buy one. But honestly, Selina might enjoy the jewels, but not half as much as she enjoyed the act of getting them, so it would be a superficial gift at best.

In the end he couldn’t come up with any other ideas so he decided on something a little more nebulus and on her terms. He printed out the photos and scrawled a simple message on the back, ‘Could use some family bonding time. Starting to miss the good old days.’ 

He thought for a very long time before he added, ‘If I ever wanted to hang up the cape for a pair of ears… would that be paw-some or un-fur-tunate?’

Before he could second guess himself, he slipped the pictures into an unmarked envelope. He considered putting it in the mail, but he figured the least he could do was drop them off in person, and maybe that was just an excuse to get out of the house, but he wasn’t going to think about it too hard. 

He threw on a pair of clothes that were more socially acceptable than his pajamas and before he knew it, he was on his bike, winding through the streets of Gotham towards Selina’s apartment.

He wondered what Kon was doing… 

Tim still couldn’t quite explain why, but no matter how scared he was of seeing Kon again, he couldn’t bring himself to regret his little overshare.

Maybe it was because of what Kon had said back… 

A thrill shot up Tim’s spine just thinking about it. He still didn’t know what he was going to say to Kon though. Maybe Selina would have some ideas.

Tim parked his bike on the street, but didn’t bother with the front door. Instead he climbed the fire escape and knocked on her window.

He waited patiently, but Selina didn’t show up. That was weird. He didn’t hear any running water and it was the middle of the day… she was usually at home right now.

Maybe she was on a job? Tim sighed, sitting down on the fire escape and swinging his legs over the edge as he pulled his phone out.

This is what he got for not calling ahead. He should know better when it came to people on this side of his life. What if she had someone over? How were they supposed to explain Tim Drake showing up on her fire escape in street clothes?

Selina picked up on the third ring. “ _Kitten?_ ”

Tim smiled softly at her voice, despite the somewhat concerned tone. “Hey Selina. I’m outside your apartment right now. Sorry I didn’t call ahead, I just wanted to pop by for a quick visit but if you’re busy I can come back later.”

“ _Oh, uh, hold tight a sec kitten._ ” There was a sound like she’d covered the receiver with her hand and muffled voices that Tim couldn’t make out, arguing for quite some time.

Harley and Ivy? No, the voices sounded deeper than that. Shit, she wasn’t on a date with Bruce was she? No, the sun was still out.

Tim contented himself to wait.

Finally, whoever Selina was talking to seemed to reach an agreement. “ _Kitten, I’m actually at the cave._ ”

Tim’s heart skipped a beat. “Is Bruce okay?”

“ _Of course sweetie, it’s more of a… personal visit. And not the Batcave, Mount Justice._ ”

The fuck?

“ _Actually, we were just about to call and invite you._ ”

Tim’s mouth twitched. “Why do I feel like I’m missing the party of the decade?”

Selina laughed. “ _Nothing like that. Will you come?_ ”

He hesitated, put off by the uncharistic uncertainty in her voice, but he would always trust Selina, even when she didn’t seem sure. “Only because it’s you,” he finally said with a sigh.

He could hear Selina’s smile in her voice. “ _Naturally._ ”

Tim hung up, and started his descent down the fire escape.

This was going to be fine. Totally fine. It wasn’t like he was emotionally vulnerable or having a _bit_ of a family crisis, or avoiding someone who _lived_ in Mount Justice, or _lying_ to all of them about what he’d been doing for the past week and the lines he’d crossed- no. That would be irresponsible.

***

“What’s going on?”

Sure, Tim had been lonely, but this was ridiculous.

Spread before him, standing around like they were waiting for a funeral to start, was two, four… fuck, _twelve_ heroes, seven of which were Bats.

And all of them were staring at him.

Tim cleared his throat and took a tentative step forward. “Seriously guys… is everything alright?” _Who died?_

He didn’t dare let the question pass his lips, but he couldn’t keep it from showing on his face. Relief, followed immediately by guilt, flooded his system when he did an internal roll call… Steph, Selina, Dick, Bruce, Babs, Cass, Jason, all four of his teammates and even the demon brat.

Tim’s stomach plummeted, had Kori taken a turn for the worse?

She’d been fine when he’d left. Roy had been feeling better too. And Mount Justice surrounded by Bats was probably the last place Jason would want to be if Kori was dying.

Still, no one spoke.

“You’re starting to scare me,” he said, taking another step forward and studying the faces of his closest friends and allies. He tried to meet Selina’s eyes but she looked so… sad. He looked away.

They were all looking at him with baited breath like they were expecting someone else to speak first.

“Tim, why don’t you sit down?” Kon said.

Suddenly the fear in Tim’s gut turned to panic. His fight or flight response kicked in and it was all he could do to keep from running. This many people, just about everyone he cared about… they were all gathered here and clearly waiting on him.

This was it. They’d figured out what he’d done. Had Jason blabed? Tim had to admit, he hadn’t seen that coming.

He looked at his sort of brother, not even bothering to try and keep the betrayed look off his face, but Jason shook his head minutely and mouthed ‘Not about that.’

Okay so this wasn’t about Venus and the League. His eyes darted around as he posed theories about what was happening, each worse than the last.

Then his brain stuttered to a halt.

They were going to ask him to leave.

They’d realized what he knew all along, he was useless. A broken replacement who’d outlived his purpose.

Despite the doubt that still twinged in his gut, telling him that was stupid, Tim’s eyes flicked to Damian.

For once the boy seemed to have no inclination to be the center of attention. He kept to the edge of the group, his cowl pulled up and leaving his face in shadow. Tim couldn’t help but picture a smug smile twisted onto his features- even if he couldn’t see any hint of one.

And just when he thought things were getting better.

“No thanks,” he said coldly. “I think I’ll stand.”

“Tim,” Kon’s voice was soft, like he was talking to a cornered animal. “We just want to talk. We’re all here because we care about you, and we want you to be happy.”

Okay, that didn’t sound so bad. Happiness was good. Caring was good. Tim focused on breathing deeply and trying to calm his racing heart. He absolutely _refused_ to have another panic attack only a day after the last. “Talk? About what?”

Dick spoke up this time. “Your parents. We… we know Tim, and we want to help you.”

Tim’s features fell carefully blank. Habit told him to ice and run, but… things were different now. A part of him had always doubted he’d actually be able to ask for help, maybe this was a good thing. “What exactly do you think you know?” he finally asked in a neutral tone.

“We’ve talked. We looked at the flight logs… the med charts. Tim, have your parents hurt you?” Steph spoke carefully, but plainly.

For a moment Tim was on a rooftop in Gotham, he was younger, more naive, and he was already walking away from a desperate Spoiler without plans to return.

He thought maybe Steph was back on that roof too because her whole body was tense. They were all tense, like they expected him to snap at any moment.

They were waiting for him to break.

And why wouldn’t they be? Tim had defended his parents and denied all evidence against them for years. He’d lied and he’d schemed to keep them away from the truth, they had no reason to expect him to act any differently now that they were openly confronting him about it.

But, to their credit, they didn’t know about the week he’d had. They didn’t know about Mercury and Minerva. Their stories and their bravery.

He let out a long rattling breath, wondering how long he’d been holding it. How long he’d been staring at his friends and family like a weeping angel under observation.

To his surprise, it wasn’t some great feat of willpower to speak up. It felt more like finally letting himself go. “Yes.” His voice was so small and so broken- heh, his friends had been right about that. He did break.

Tim looked numbly at the ground, unable to look at their shocked expressions any longer. “At first I didn’t realize what it was. I thought it was normal. Then I thought I deserved it. Now I… I don’t know what I think.”

Kon took a step forward, but seemed to hold himself back. “We’re here for you Tim. We support you.”

“And you certainly don’t deserve it,” Jason cut in sharply.

Tim couldn’t stop himself from snorting softly. “That’s rich, coming from you.”

Frowning, Jason started, “What’s that supposed to-”

Tim met his eyes. “Replacement.”

Jason’s eyes widened in surprise and then guilt. “Timmy, I-”

“Don’t worry about it. I was telling myself that for years before you came along,” he said, waving away Jason’s apology before he could make it.

“Tim,” Bruce’s voice was so raw, so broken, that Tim almost gave into his first instinct and ran. He’d been so busy worrying about what this would make them think of him, he’d barely stopped to think that hearing about this might actually hurt them.

But he also knew it wasn’t all pity and horror. Most of what they were feeling was probably guilt.

“I want you all to know there’s nothing you could have done,” he said sadly, trying to make eye contact with as many of them as he could. His gaze caught on Steph and Selina the longest. “I pushed you away, I… I was stupid. I didn’t see what was happening or I just- fuck, I still don’t know exactly what’s happening. I don’t know what to do next and I don’t have a plan. I’m flying in the dark here. It’s just… they’re my _parents._ ” Tim ran a shaky hand through his already disheveled hair, silently willing them to understand. “They made me who I am, they created me, taught me just about everything I know. I _love_ them. They love _me_.”

Something seemed to click in Jason’s eyes. “Kid, people like them ain’t capable of love. They just feed off making others hurt. They manipulate and control and deceive, but they don’t have the right parts left in ‘em to love.”

Tim looked at him helplessly. “But they’re all I have.”

“You have us,” Bruce said, trying for firm affirmation, but falling short.

Tim set his jaw. “For how long?”

“What?”

“How long?” Tim asked again. He didn’t want the answer. He kept going. “How long until I outlive my usefulness and you all leave. Sure, you might care now, but in a year? In two? You may not realize it because you’re all painfully idealistic, but I do. Hell, it’s already started.” He couldn’t stop himself from looking at Damian who, to his surprise, shrunk under his gaze.

“No one can replace you Tim. Sure, you’ve grown out of Robin and you’ve moved on, but we still love you, and whatever you may think, that’s not going to change,” Dick said firmly. “Jason and I haven’t been Robin in years, no one’s abandoned us.”

“That’s different,” Tim said. “You’re-”

“Me?” Dick finished for him. “Tim, it isn’t any different. We love you. Permanently. I know you’re scared, but we will never leave you. I promise.” He smiled. “You couldn’t get rid of us if you wanted to.”

They were all nodding.

Tim’s chest flooded with warmth.

“ _Thank you._ ”

“You don’t have to thank us. We just want you to talk to us. Let us help you, however we can,” Barbra said.

“What, like counselling?” Tim couldn’t keep the tired edge out of his voice.

Babs mouth twitched. “Preferably, yes. You know Dinah’s door is always open and any one of us will listen whenever you’re ready to talk. Even a regular psychologist could help you a lot.”

Tim didn’t respond. He’d barely come to terms with this, how was he supposed to talk about it? He still didn’t even know what he was gonna do about it! “I don’t know Babs. Some of the things they did… ”

Hindsight was 20 20 right? Tim had always known the things he did for his family, the things his parents did _to him_ weren’t exactly right, that’s why he lied about them. But… no matter what happened next they were his parents and he wasn’t sure he’d be able to let his friends hurt them.

And they would.

Somehow Tim knew that if he told them the whole truth, his parents would end up mysteriously in the hospital at best, the cemetery at worst.

“I’m just not ready to talk about it yet.”

“And that’s okay too,” Babs assured immediately.

Tim was starting to feel uncomfortable. There was an itch under his skin telling him to run. Too many people. Too much attention.

Suddenly he felt small and weak.

There were a lot of them. They were staring at him. Twelve pairs of eyes looking at him sympathetically.

Tim took a step back.

He felt like the first time he’d showed up to school with bruises. His teachers had called home and his father had beat him twice as badly, but his mother… she’d given him a makeup kit, a tablet with youtube on it, and told him to never look less than perfect again.

He’d been seven.

Tim’s phone rang and he visibly flinched. Luckily, they wrote it off as the jarring noise in a tense moment.

He knew better.

His phone was playing Beethoven’s symphony no. 5.

He saw the curious looks, but none of them recognized the ringtone. Tim picked up.

“Hello.”

“ _What is wrong with you Timothy? You sound sick. Fix it._ ” his mother’s voice was as cold as always. “ _Our idiot pilot decided to quit so now our whole trip is a mess. Jack is continuing on, but I’m coming home to get you, and I need you to make yourself presentable._ ”

Tim’s blood ran cold, but he kept his face blank. “Of course. I’ll be ready.”

“ _Good. And Timothy dear? I love you._ ”

Her words totally blind sided him. He knew what Jason had said was probably true, but… god even now, in the middle of _this_ conversation it was so easy to believe her.

“ _Timothy,_ ” her voice was sharper.

“I, uh, love you too.”

“ _I’ll be there soon._ ” She hung up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if this is a little sloppily edited, I've had a shit week and I just found out Stan Lee died, RIP. In case it isn't obvious from the fact I write superhero fanfics, he was a huge part of my childhood and I was devastated to learn about his passing.
> 
> On a (brighter?) different note, #sorrynotsorry about the cliffhanger *insert evil laughter with a bolt of lightning and a crack of thunder in the distance*


	29. No

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Tim who couldn’t say a goodbye to save his life and is so overloaded with emotions that he’s shut down and is no longer even attempting to cope with his shit and instead doing the mental equivalent of ‘not today satan’:** lol online shopping bitches  
>  **Satan:** How about you confront your emotional trauma in front of everyone you care about instead?  
>  **Tim:**... ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ why not  
>  **Janet:** Oh sry were you making progress with your mental health? Not on my watch…  
>  **Me:** *cackles evilly from behind the fourth wall at what was probably the best cliffhanger I have ever written*

“Sorry, that was Venus. She forgot her phone at my house.” Tim tucked his phone back into his jacket as he lied through his teeth.

No two people in the room got the same meaning from his words.

Kon knew who Venus really was and assumed he meant that she was back with the League. Steph thought he was talking about a very touchy female friend he’d hosted for a few days that was now back to some mansion very far away where Steph would never have to see her again. Selina had absolutely no idea what he was talking about and was making a mental note to grill him about it when the air wasn’t quite so heavy with tension.

Jason was just staring at him. He hadn’t met ‘Venus’, but he had talked to Roy and Kori after their visit, and he had to admit he was curious about the girl from the League of Assassins that had won Kori over so easily. Tim’s ambiguous relationship with her only made her all the more interesting.

That was just to name a few. Most of the others were in varying shades of confusion, which was how in a room full of heroes and detectives, only one person guessed the truth and he made no move to act on his hunch. Yet.

“I need to get back soon so I can be there when she comes to pick it up.”

Tim used his friends’ trust against them so easily it made his stomach churn. Half of them thought they were privy to his secrets, convinced they were the only ones who knew what he was actually talking about. In order to enforce that delusion, he glanced at a few of them with a quick _’Help, I need to go’_ look.

Kon was the first one to react to it. “That’s okay. We can talk about this more later.” He smiled kindly and that was not a twinge of guilt in Tim’s gut- _it was not._

Tim smiled gratefully back at him. “Thanks.” He hesitated, addressing his next words to the whole room. “For everything. I… just, thanks.”

Before anyone could really respond Tim walked quickly to Selina, pulling her present from his messenger bag and pressing it into her hands with a quick smile and a muttered, “For the advice,” before he turned around and started towards the zeta beam.

He barely got two steps before there was a hand on his wrist, stopping him in his tracks.

” _That’s it_? You’re just going to _walk away?_ ”

He really didn’t need this right now. “Yes?” Tim turned slightly to look at Damian out of the corner of his eye. “I don’t know what to tell you, Damian. I have places to be.”

Damian’s face scrunched up, “Tt-” but he let go of Tim’s sleeve without argument. “Fine then.”

Not waiting or Damian to change his mind about letting him go, Tim walked away, stepping through the zeta beam and back into Gotham before anyone else could try to stop him.

As soon as his boot hit the Gotham pavement, he started doubting himself. Damian made a very good point- _what was he doing?!_

He’d finally admitted his parents were abusive and he was pretty sure they were, but on the other hand… they deserved a last chance right? His mother loved him. Whatever Jason insisted about her never loving him, she’d said so. And damn him, he wanted to believe her.

They were family and that was a bond that couldn’t be broken lightly just because Tim was being overly emotional after a rough week. His mother had given him years of her life, the least he could do was give her one last chance before he did something drastic.

He’d done more reckless things than this before anyway, and as… questionable… as some of her lessons may have been, he wasn’t _really_ in danger, right? It wasn’t like she was going to kill him or anything. And sure, if he’d just told the truth, his friends could have helped him. Somehow. Probably. But maybe that was exactly why he lied. If he’d asked, they would have helped, and what might that help have looked like?

For once, he honestly wasn’t sure, and that scared him more than he was willing to admit. Perhaps his mother hadn’t always been the most nurturing, but he wasn’t ready to let her get buried in an unmarked grave in Wyoming over it. He wanted to be able to say for sure that his mother wouldn’t come to harm before he involved outside help. Or at least that she’d make it out alive? Honestly he wasn’t totally sure what he wanted, but people were unpredictable when he couldn’t understand their motives, and what motive was more incomprehensible than because they cared about him? Involving them would have been too risky.

So no. He really couldn’t have asked for help. They would have taken the situation out of his hands and dealt with it in their own way, probably shoving him in Wayne Manor’s dusty attic(Alfred would be horrified if he knew Tim had even thought about calling any part of the manor dusty) until they deemed it ‘safe’. He couldn’t have that.

Reassured with his decision, Tim started walking out of the ally and towards the street where he’d parked his bike.

He’d need to get changed- wow imagine his mother seeing him like this, he almost laughed. She’d be so disgusted she’d probably turn right back around and leave.

So a change of clothes. He’d also need to finish fixing up the rooms Minerva and Mercury had been staying in.

Tim reached his bike, stopping in his tracks to simply stare at it, admiring the sleek black lines of it. It was no Red Bird, but it was a good bike. A good bike that could probably get him out of state in a few hours and into Canada in a few more. Untraceable. He had a stash of fake plates near by, he could… 

What was he even thinking about? He’d already lied to his friends to secure his mother this chance, he wasn’t about to run away and screw everything to hell.

He pulled on his helmet and got on the bike.

Okay, contingencies. Back up plans for his back up plans, it was what he was known for.

But how was he supposed to make a plan for _this?_

He spent the drive mulling it over, but came up empty handed.

Really, this timing was pretty good, right? At least Minerva and Mercury were gone. They would have been hard to explain. And his friends would probably give him space under the assumption that he needed time after his confession. He could use that to his… advantage. Holy shit- he sounded just like his mother.

He picked out a plain suit jacket and button up as he stripped out of his worn jeans and into something nicer. He wasn’t really sure when he’d parked his bike or entered the house, but his feet seemed to know what they were doing, so he let them carry him as he thought. 

Maybe there _was_ one contingency he could set up.

He walked to the closet, hanging up his leather jacket, before letting his eyes wander down, down, down… 

His go bag was exactly where it always was, the Red Robin Costume folded carefully on top of it and the _box_ beneath it.

Tim stood, still as a statue, staring down at the box. He’d been doing that a lot lately, just standing frozen to the spot and staring. Kinda like his brain had shitty wifi.

He finally reached a decision, bending over to gently place the box and his costume into the bag. He wished he had the strength to just _burn_ it and be done, but it would seem he was getting sentimental in his old age.

He closed the closet door with an air of finality and started downstairs to finish the rest of his preparations.

***

This time, Tim didn’t wait by the door.

He sat in the lounge, legs casually crossed, stare dull. He’d seriously considered pouring himself some of his father’s brandy, but he wasn’t that stupid. Instead he pulled out his phone and… and what? He could answer emails, but considering Janet could walk in at any moment, he was on his Tim Drake phone. He couldn’t exactly work on any cases and any emails would be about Drake Industries. School hadn’t even started yet… 

Huh. School. In a month, he would be starting is senior year. When was the last time he’d thought about that?

Of course he had enough credits to graduate and the test scores to get into a good college, but his mother had wanted him to stay with his age group. Now he was starting to wonder if she really just wanted him under her thumb longer.

It was hard for him to even pretend to enjoy school, and it only seemed to get harder every year. It was always overflowing with idiot teenagers who expected him to care about their crappy gossip when he was literally saving the city every other night. He’d never been good at small talk, but being Red Robin gave it a whole new level of tediousness.

When he’d first made the mistake of telling his mother something to that effect, she’d smiled the kind of smile that, to a child like him, had looked motherly and pulled him toward her.

“ _Timothy,_ ” she’d said, “ _you will be surrounded by inferiors for the rest of your life. It’s time you learned how to_ use _them._ ”

A few weeks later Tim was one of the most popular kids in school. His bullies suddenly found themselves transferred, humiliated, or in deep shit with the teachers. He discovered that girls considered him to be ‘adorable’ and once puberty hit, ‘cute in a bangable way’ (They said that. To his face. Teenagers had weird ass conversations.), so he used that information to manipulate them as well. People trusted him, and instinctively, they even liked him in a warped kind of way, but it didn’t change the fact that none of them cared about him, if they had, they might have commented on the strange absences or the random bruises.

It didn’t last of course. He took up Red Robin, got busy, generally acted like himself… basically everything that would be considered ‘social suicide’ for a teenager. As it turned out, most teenagers didn’t like hanging out with someone smarter than them who didn’t go to parties, never invited anyone over, sucked at small talk, and enjoyed all the wrong things.

But school was still a lot better than it had once been. People more or less left him alone. Whispered behind his back, sure, but they smiled to his face. The older they got, the more he was surrounded by rich kids who knew exactly who his parents were and the high probability that he would own them one day.

Whatever. It was boring not torture. It was hardly the worst thing life demanded of him on a regular basis.

It was just a stepping stone on the greater path to one day running DI anyway.

He just hated that it would take time away from him being Red Robin. Still, necessary evils and all that crap. Maybe he could-

The door opened, crashing through Tim’s musings with all the subtlety of an elephant.

“Timothy darling, I’m home!”

Suddenly it felt as if Jonathan Crane had glued Tim to his seat.

“The replacement pilot was an incompetent ignoramus.” If his mother noticed something was different, it didn’t show in her voice. “How men like him get jobs, I have no idea.”

When the rustling of her coat had stopped and her heels were just starting to click down the hallway, Tim stood up. “Hello mother. It’s good to see you too.”

The clicks paused. “Come again?”

Tim turned around stiffly to look down the hallway at her. “Nothing mother.”

“Timothy, is there something bothering you?” Her voice was soft, dangerous, but it carried just fine.

 _Not yet._ He forced a smile onto his face and prayed the distance would help it look real. “Of course not mother.”

“Good,” she purred, continuing her slow prowl toward him. She stopped a few feet from him, only the armchair between them. “It was a long flight, pour me a drink would you darling?”

He held her gaze, every muscle in his body tense. He felt guilty and scared and angry all at once. “Yes mother,” he grit out.

He couldn’t turn away fast enough. Each step away from her was a relief. The champagne was already out on a thousand dollar coffee table in the center of the room. He positioned his body so she couldn’t see his hands shake as he poured.

When he turned around, she was sitting in the chair he’d vacated. She looked like a queen. Hell, give her a katana and she looked like Thalia Al Ghul. Narrowed eyes, assessing gaze, and all.

This time he couldn’t conceal them so he _forced_ his hands not to shake. Eight feet had never seemed so far a distance.

He made the journey without incident, offering the flute of liquid to his mother silently, like a worshiper before their god. It was a wonder she didn’t make him kneel for this. Tim stamped out his own traitorous thoughts.

She still didn’t take the glass. “Timothy, you’ve been a good boy in my absence, haven’t you?”

What was she playing at?

“Yes mother.”

“Kept up with your work?”

“Yes mother.”

“Kept the house clean?”

“Yes mother.”

“Invited strangers into my home?”

”Ye-” Tim froze.

She plucked the champagne flute from his hand and took a sip. “Answer the question Timothy.”

He floundered, reaching blindly for an excuse, any excuse, but he came up blank. Every second he didn't answer was only condemning him further. “How did you-?” he finally choked out, but she cut him off.

“ _Relax,_ Timothy. I assume your female companions are why you’re so nervous?”

Tim nodded shakily.

Humming smugly, she took another sip of her champagne before continuing, “I figured as much. Well, you needn’t worry.”

Damn this conversation was a rollercoaster. “What?” Tim asked lamely.

She smiled benevolently. “At your age it is only reasonable to expect a certain craving for female companionship. As your mother it would be foolish of me to try and stop it completely, so I simply wish to inform you of the rules.”

She was taking this scarily well.

Suddenly an icy hand wrapped around the back of Tim’s neck, pulling him closer until her cherry lips were inches from his ear. Losing his balance, Tim almost fell forward, just managing to catch himself on the arms of the chair.

“Rule number one. Don’t get caught unless I want you to get caught,” she said, her voice like silk despite the sharp nails digging into his neck. “Rule number two, you run the girls by me first from now on. You represent my company and the girls you bed reflect that. You’re a teenager, healthy gossip about your love life will make good publicity. I can see the headlines now, _Timothy Drake, Gotham’s Next Most Eligible Bachelor._ Teenage girls are already drooling over you, give it a couple years and it could be everyone. For now, Gotham’s prince may be Bruce Wayne, but he’s getting a bit old don’t you think?”

Tim jerked away, ignoring the pain of her nails scratching his neck. “You want me to _what?_ ”

She blinked once in surprise before her feathers smoothed into the unreadable mask they always were. “I want you to be a teenager Timothy. Sleep with pretty girls, make connections.” Her eyes narrowed. “As long as you remember that they are merely tools to be used before they use you.”

He just stared at her in horror, unable to come up with a response.

Taking his silence as acceptance, she continued, “Rule number three, charm those girls. Make them like you, but don’t let them get attached. As long as it benefits the company and your image, you can do as you please, but remember to keep yourself distant. Anything you do can and will help or hurt the company. I _will_ be holding you responsible for any scandals.”

He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. She was selling his body all over again, under the guise of pleasure this time. Telling him he could do as he pleased as long as it was on _her_ terms and benefitted _her_ agenda. It was almost like he was a kid again, listening to her explain the rules for his clients.

She seemed to settle further into the chair, drinking from her glass and watching him carefully for a reaction. “It’s about time you learned the importance of being liked. For someone like you, the most efficient way to do that is to… interest them. I’ve been preparing you for this for a long time, but this is a different battlefield entirely. One with more subtlety, you’ll be making the deals instead of merely acting them out.”

“You want me to generate publicity by sleeping around,” Tim said monotonously.

Shrugging nonchalantly, she knocked back the rest of her glass. “Don’t put it so crudely. I’m giving you the opportunity to… network on a simplistic level before you have to swim with the sharks. I only want for you to be a better CEO of Drake Industries one day.”

He took a moment to absorb that. She wasn’t wrong. It was important for companies to be in the public eye. If Tim could really win over that much good will just by being more personable and making his way into a few magazines… it _was_ free publicity. Maybe he was looking at this wrong.

She only wanted what was best for him. Didn’t she? It was getting really hard to convince himself it was true.

“Where’s father?” He didn’t even realize he was asking the question until she was frowning at him.

He thought she might simply decline to answer, but she surprised him yet again. “Still in Egypt. He felt I would better handle this conversation alone.”

 _She’s lying._ He wasn’t sure where the thought came from or what it really meant, so he pushed it aside.

Suddenly rising to her feet, his mother handed the empty flute back to him and said, “Now come. We must go if we’re going to catch our flight in time.”

Tim stared down at the glass, her words registering slowly. “Our… what?”

Already half way down the hallway, she said, “You didn’t think I just came back for that conversation did you? You have a client.” Tim’s blood froze in his veins. “Mr. Johnson. He was quite a fan of you after the spring gala and thought your company for a couple of nights would be an acceptable payment for a mutually beneficial partnership. There’s a dossier waiting for you on the plane concerning his… preferences.”

Tim could feel his life slipping out of his hands again. His mother tugging on the invisible leash that had been strangling him his entire life, and expecting him to follow along dutifully. At the same time, a new yet completely familiar kind of panic was spreading through him.

He could already feel hands on him. Hands that were too big to be on his small body, to rough to be handling a child. He wasn’t in the manor- he was somewhere far away with a bed that was too big for one person and-

“No.”

His mother stalled, the sound of her heels on the hardwood floor slowing, and then stopping all together. “Excuse me?” Her voice was light, unassuming, and almost pleasant. “I’m not sure I heard you correctly because it _sounded_ like you were telling me no.”

Tim fought the instincts urging him to give in or run. He forced himself to stay, fighting every reflex that had been drilled into him his entire life to do so. He’d wanted to give her a chance, to make sure he was correct, and how much more obvious could she make it? He couldn’t go through with this. Not again.

“You heard correctly.”

His mother turned around slowly, her face frozen in a deadly smile. “Think _very_ carefully about your next words Timothy.”

Oh, he had. “I won’t do it. No more clients. No more selling me to the highest bidder.”

She laughed, high and melodic like violin music. “Of course not silly. Selling would imply they have to keep you, and who would ever want to do that?”

Tim’s fists clenched at his sides. “It’s _rape_ , mother. And I won’t let you put me through it anymore.”

Eyes narrowing, Janet stared down her nose at him, her false smile finally falling away. “So you’ve finally grown a back bone then? I’ll remind you that this petty tantrum will do you no good. I put a roof over your head. I feed you. I put clothes on your back and I did my best to raise you right, but clearly you were too broken for it to make a difference if this is how you repay me.”

“ _Raise me?_ ” Anger roared white hot in Tim’s ears, driving him a step forward and raising his voice to a yell. “You’ve been in a different country for half my life and the other half you’ve sold me to make business deals like no more than property!”

Her smile was cruel and sharp. “But that’s exactly what you are. You’re _mine_ and I’ll do with you as I please because I am your _mother._ ”

Fear curled in Tim’s gut, paralyzing him. He’d fought monsters and madmen, metas and aliens, but Janet Drake was by far the scariest thing he’d ever faced. The slightest hint of displeasure from her made every survival instinct he had go haywire, and now she was furious.

But she was wrong.

“No. A mother should love her child. She should support and care for them and lift them up. All you’ve ever done was abuse me and use me for your own ends.”

He shrunk away as she walked closer to him, but instead of slapping him, she leaned down and hugged him. “Dear, I do love you. You’re my son,” she said softly into his ear.

Tim had been prepared for her to scream and hit him and tell him what a piece of shit he was, but this? This was all he’d ever wanted in life.

To be loved unconditionally. To be touched and heard. To be cared for.

What would the world have been like if he weren't so unlovable?

He shoved her away, stumbling backward in an attempt to get space between them. It wasn’t his fault- she was the one without the heart to love! Not him! Please, not him. If it was his fault, he could never fix it. It had to be her. It had to.

“Whatever this is,” he gestured between them, “it’s not love. I know what love is now. I know how a mother should act, what a father should be, what friends do for one another, what having a brother feels like. _They_ taught me how to love. All you ever taught me was how to fear.”

A hushed conversation that smelled like cigarette smoke and ocean salt. A bone crushing hug that turned into a dog pile. Strong arms holding him until he’d run out of tears. The woosh of air that accompanied a friend flying to his aid. Playful banter about his love life. Watching a friend experience Star War for the first time. Hanging out with Kon after a mission.

“Because of you I’ve lied to everyone that I care about. Because of you I _hate_ myself. I stood on the edge of the building and I pictured the blood stains I’d leave on the pavement. I did it over and over again until I was so used to seeing my own broken body laid out on the street, nothing could scared me. Except you.”

His mother took in a deep rattling breath, and he was shocked at how broken the small sound was.

“Because of you, I can’t form a single relationship without counting the ways they could stab me in the back. Because of you I can’t have a single conversation without remembering how fucking useless I am and everytime I hear classical music, I panic. Because of you I never got to have birthdays, I learned to ride a bike on my own, I said my first word to the maid, and I learned to talk with a fucking _english professor_ in private lessons!” He sucked in a deep breath that shook so much it was almost a sob. “You have taken so much from me in so many different ways so don’t you dare call it love!”

The echoes of his scream rang through the entrance hallway for what felt like centuries. He’d never felt so much concentrated hate in his life.

Suddenly, he understood Jason. If this was anything like what Lazarus rage felt like, it was a wonder the Joker was still alive.

Janet’s eyes were watering and for half a heartbeat Tim wondered if he’d made his mother cry.

“ _Cut the crap,_ ” she spat. “You’re lucky we kept a piece of shit like you at all and you would do well to remember that! Now put on your shoes and get over here. We’re going to be late,” she ordered, glancing at her watch. Her eyes were definitely red rimmed and for once in her life, as valiantly as she was trying to, she didn’t look she was in control.

When it came, Tim’s voice was jarringly calm. “No, we’re not. Because we aren’t ever going to show up, _Janet._ ” She flinched. “I have enough evidence to get you convicted of child abuse three times over and sink nearly half your business partners as well.”

After so many years of blocking his friends from finding out about his parents, it hadn’t taken long for Tim to locate the chinks in his parents’ armor. The small things they’d missed that he could use to prove his story. There wasn’t a lot, probably not even enough really, but all he would have to do was tell his story with all the juicy details it shouldn’t be possible for him to know and DI would go down.

“You wouldn’t,” Janet snarled. “You don’t have the stomach for it. You’ve always been _weak._ ”

“I used to think you were right.” Tim managed to look down his nose at her, willing her to see every ounce of the truth in his gaze. “But you’ve left me no choice. Either you let me walk out of here peacefully, or I drag you down with me, kicking and screaming.”

He wanted her to shriek. To finally- _finally_ get mad enough to actually react to him with something hotter than ice, but she just glared right back at him, slowly seeming to piece herself back together as she fixed her expression into a cool mask of indifference.

Then she started clapping. Slow and steady, a smile widening on her face that never reached her eyes. “Congratulations Timothy, you’re finally a Drake. It took seventeen years of pitiful weakness, but now you’ve done it. I’m _proud._ ”

Tim recoiled, physically jerking away from her like her words had cut him.

“You,” she punctuated each word with a step towards him, a huntress stalking her prey, “truly are _my son._ ” By the last word she was towering over him. She leaned down until her eyes were level with his and she spoke in a venomous whisper that rose goosebumps on his skin and chilled him to his very core. “When you’re done with this little teenage rebellion and your friends all leave you, I’ll be waiting. I’m the _only_ one who could ever really love you. I made you what you are and no matter what you do, no matter how far you run, you will _never_ escape that. I will always own you. So I’ll tell Mr. Johnson we’ll have to reschedule, but I don’t think there’s any need to cancel.”

And then she straightened, smirking down at her son triumphantly.

Horror and the unique brand of fear only his mother could inspire mingled in his gut until-

He took a step back. Then another. And another, until he turned around and ran, before he lost the strength to move at all.

And god damn him, he paused at the bottom of the stairs to turn and look at her.

Janet stood with one hip popped, her arms crossed and her face twisted into a smug smirk. Her eyes were still rimmed red, but when she saw him turn, she slowly raised one hand and wiggled her fingers in a mock wave.

A shiver ran down Tim’s spine. He took the stairs two at a time.

When he made it to his room, Tim slammed the door behind him, leaning against it and breathing heavily, his heart beating out of his chest.

Screwing his eyes shut, he tried to get his thoughts in order, but it was useless. His chest felt like a tightening coil that had gotten worse and worse as the conversation went on until it was squeezing the life out of him and now it was seconds from bursting. His thoughts were chasing each other around in a convoluted game of tag that left him reeling.

“ _Kon._ ” The name tore from Tim’s lips before he even realized he was saying it. “I fucked up, shit I’m so sorry. _Please._ Steph- _anybody,_ just, somebody _help._ ” The pleas tumbled from Tim’s lips in a repeating loop until he ran out of words. He knew they were pointless- there was no one around to hear them anyway- but logic had checked out five minutes ago.

When his ragged breathing and quiet words turned to heavy silence, he pushed off the door, sucking a breath in and realizing his thoughts were still scattered, but his body knew what to do.

He went to the computer first, ripping his suit jacket off and throwing it into a corner. He saved everything to a flash drive and slipped it into the pocket of his slacks, resetting the computer to factory settings when he was done. Then he grabbed his go bag, realizing abruptly he had nothing else he could add to it. All the possessions he cared about were already in the understuffed gym bag. How pathetic was that?

Shrugging on his leather jacket, he took one last look at the room he’d lived in for almost eighteen years. It looked brand new. Somehow, he didn’t think he was going to miss it.

When he got to the front hallway, Janet was still standing in the same place, a vaguely shell shocked look on her face.

He brushed past her without a word.

Just as his hand reached the doorknob, she found her voice. “They’ll never love you. Not like I do. You’ll always be looking over your shoulder, waiting for them to come to their senses and leave.”

“Maybe so, but who’s fault is that?”

Tim slipped out the door, the cool night air hitting his face and doing wonders to dry eyes, but nothing to clear his head.

He started walking, and he didn’t look back.

Luck must have been on his side- or good planning- because the garage door was already open and his helmet was resting on the seat of his bike instead of the kitchen counter where he sometimes left it when he was home alone.

He pulled it on now, securing the strap and climbing onto his bike. Seconds later he was shooting out of the garage like a bat out of hell. Half of Gotham could probably hear the engine of his bike as he pushed it to go faster, but he didn’t care.

It wasn’t until Tim had hit the highway and was halfway to the city that he realized he had nowhere to go.

He could barely keep his eyes on the road, there was no way he could drive very far, and he couldn’t just hide at Selina’s this time. He needed somewhere unconnected to his parents, somewhere they wouldn’t look. Somewhere away from people. Somewhere safe.

Tim switched lanes. There was a place that was all of those things.

He had to admit, he’d always imagined coming home for the first time would be a happier experience.

***

Kon ran through the twisting halls of Mount Justice in a panic.

His feet slipped on the floor as he tried to stay upright, nearly barreling into walls when he made sharp turns. He could hardly breathe his heart was beating so hard. Half kryptonians weren’t supposed to get winded, but that hardly mattered when he felt like he was on the verge of a panic attack.

He burst into the living room, relieved to see a few of the Bats were still around.

”Tim’s in trouble,” he blurted out, as six heads swivelled towards him.

They all stiffened in response, but it was Dick who asked, “What do you mean?”

Kon swallowed painfully and tried to organize his thoughts into words. “I- I just heard him. He called my name and… ” he looked at Steph, “And yours. And a few others, but he was panicked, I… _something’s wrong._ ”

The Bat brood exchanged glances. Kon was tempted to yell at them to _do something,_ but before he could say something stupid, Bruce nodded to Babs.

She sprung into action, rolling over to the computer and logging in. She started opening files and Kon quickly lost track of what she was doing. Every minute felt like days, but finally- _finally_ Babs gasped softly, pulling her hands away from the keyboard to cover her mouth instead. “His mother got a flight home.”

”Right, I’ll take Steph and go to Drake Manor. Tim lied to our faces, but it sounds like he needs our help now,” Dick said, already walking towards the zeta tube. Steph kissed her girlfriend quickly before joining him.

Bruce set his jaw, obviously thinking he should be the one to go before he ended up saying, “No.” Dick turned back to frown at him, clearly getting ready to argue, but Bruce cut him off. “Steph can take Cass. Janet might recognize you as my son.” Dick opened his mouth to argue, but in the end he just nodded. “We can stay here on coms. The girls should be enough, but if they aren’t we need to be ready to mobilize.” He turned back to Babs, “Contact Selina and Jason to let them know what’s going on.”

Kon didn’t realize Damian had disappeared until the demon brat was at his side, tugging Kon back into the hallway.

He frowned, planning on telling the kid to fuck off, but something in Damian’s expression stopped him and with one last look at the Bats, he followed.

”I knew Drake was lying.” Kon opened his mouth to ask why the hell Damian hadn’t said something sooner, but the boy just kept talking. “So I planted a tracker on him.”

 _Oh…_ Kon was weirdly reminded of the first time he watched _The Empire Strikes Back._ ‘No, I am your father.’ The surprise part anyway, not the surprising family reveal.

”Y-you planted a tracker on your own brother?”

Damian frowned. ”Of course I did. It was the only way to ensure that idiot didn’t do something stupid and get himself hurt like he is clearly _trying_ to-” Kon shot him a look. Damian cleared his throat. “He’s not at the manor. Not anymore. He’s on the highway right now.” He pressed a small screen into Kon’s hands.

Kon stared down at it, then back at Robin. ”Ok, so you planted a tracker on his… ” he pictured the scene again, remembering how angry he’d been that Damian would talk to Tim like that, “jacket, but why give this to me? Why sit through everyone screaming at you?”

Damian tensed uncomfortably, trying to hide his emotions behind a look of disdain. “Obviously father and Grayson would not approve of tracking Drake if my theory turned out to be incorrect.”

Kon waited for him to continue, but Damian seemed content to leave it at that and every second he waisted grilling Damian for unnecessary details was a moment Tim could be in trouble. “You aren’t a bad kid. Cover for me.”

Then he left Damian spluttering in the shadows about being called a kid and went to find his friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finally got to use the title of this fic!!! I’ve been sitting on this scene for ages and I’m pretty happy with how it turned out. It’s kinda hard to believe that this fic is winding down… I think (I’m really not sure, I’m kinda guessing) that it should be done before the new year and it’s already book length… wow. How did this even happen?!!?!
> 
> Speaking of the end, I figured out what I’m going to do for the epilogue, and it’s going to be awesome. I’m also outlining the worldbuilding and general plot for my next fic and I’m so excited!!! Anyway, get ready for a lot of emotional fallout, fluff, and healing!


	30. Rebuilding

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Janet:** I own you  
>  **Tim:** bitch you THOUGHT  
>  *******  
>  **Damian:** I put a tracker on Drake because I love- BECAUSE HE IS AN IMBECILE WHO IS GOING TO GET HIMSELF KILLED  
>  **Kon:** that’s so adorable I wish I could ruffle your hair, but I need to go save my boyfr- my friend so I don’t have time to get my hand chopped off.

“Tim? Are you in there?”

Kon knocked on the door again, pleading silently that it _would just open already._

Silence answered him. He hadn’t really expected anything else, but it still hurt.

“I know you can hear me so just… listen.” Kon took a shaky breath and tried hard to pick the right words out of the storm raging in his head. “I don’t know what happened with your parents, and I probably have no right to be here when you didn’t ask me to be, so if you really want me to go, I’ll go. I won’t force you to let me in, but _please,_ I know you’re hurt and you’re scared and maybe everything in you wants to hide, but I am _here for you._ Whatever that looks like. Just-” his voice broke, “- just let me _help_ you. _Please._ ”

At the 57 second mark, Kon was starting to wonder if he was going to have to make good on his promise and leave when the door cracked open. He barely got a glimpse of the dark apartment beyond and a very disheveled Tim before the smaller boy had fallen forward, collapsing into Kon.

The clone caught him reflexively, wrapping his arms around Tim’s waist to match the smaller ones wrapped around his neck.

Tim didn’t say anything, so Kon just held him close. “It’s going to be alright. Everything’s going to be fine,” he whispered into Tim’s hair, breathing in the smaller boy’s scent.

In response, Tim just buried his face further into Kon’s neck.

When he showed no signs of letting go anytime soon, Kon quietly asked, “How can I help you?”

Tim took in a rattling breath and murmured so quietly Kon almost missed it, “Just- just hold me. Please.”

Kon’s heart broke as he picked Tim up bridal style and carried him over the threshold, closing the door behind him with his foot as he did so. Maybe one day he’d have time to reflect on the significance of that action, but not now.

Normally Kon would have muttered some long suffering comment or another about dark rooms and Bats as he found the light switch and turned it on, but all he could think about was Tim, curled up in a dark corner, crying to himself.

Luckily, Tim had already furnished the apartment(which raised so many questions, but those could wait). He walked them over to the couch and sat down, pulling Tim into his lap and continuing to hold him.

Tim curled into the fetal position and fisted his hands in Kon’s shirt, sobbing into the fabric. Kon let him. He wrapped one arm around Tim to hold him in place and he cradled Tim’s head with the other.

Minutes passed with Tim’s sobs echoing in the empty apartment, waxing and waning like the tide came in and out as he started to get control of himself only to lose it all over again.

It occured to Kon that Tim had probably never cried this hard. At the very least, he’d probably never allowed himself this weakness in front of another person.

Kon began carding his fingers through Tim’s hair, murmuring reassurances as Tim’s sobs began to quiet for good. “It’s going to be okay… I’m here… I’m not going anywhere… you are loved… ” Anything he could think of to reassure the insecurities he knew Tim had.

Minutes after Tim’s breathing had evened out, he made no move to leave Kon’s embrace and Kon made no move to make him. When he did finally pull away, he was sniffling softly as he adjusted in Kon’s grip to better face the half kryptonian.

Kon’s hands fell instinctively to Tim’s waist to steady him as he got his first good look at the detective.

After Tim’s truth serum induced overshare, Kon hadn’t let himself do anything. He’d wanted to kiss Tim right then and there, but it wouldn’t have been fair, so he’d held himself back. He hadn’t even let himself really think about what it all meant until hours later when he was alone in bed and he could no longer help himself.

He’d imagined what he’d say to Tim the next time he saw him, how he’d finally confess and tell Tim how much he meant to him, but then that time had come and it had been a little more crowded than Kon imagined.

Now that he was finally alone with him for the first time since that rooftop… Tim looked like shit.

His eyes were red rimmed and raw from crying; his face puffy and tear stained; and his expression… Raoh, he looked so _broken_. His usually closed off features were now open and vulnerable, bearing the kind of helpless expression that Kon could never and would never associate with Tim.

How could someone do this to his baby bird?

Kon’s fingers tightened involuntarily on Tim’s waist and he had to force himself to swallow. The protective gesture didn’t go unnoticed, Tim seemed to melt even further in Kon’s hands, his expression loosening ever so slightly.

When another full minute had passed and Tim seemed to be too busy staring at Kon like he might vanish at any second to speak, Kon gently urged him, “Do you want to talk about it?”

Tim let out a long breath he hadn’t known he was holding and looked away. “Would you believe me if I told you Star Wars IX was cancelled?”

Kon snorted softly and answered even softer, “Of course not. You’d find a way to make it happen anyway.”

His heart soared when Tim’s lips twitched in response. “Curse my religious dedication to the Force.”

Kon hummed in agreement and let the comfortable silence continue until Tim had collected himself enough to speak.

He cleared his throat, but his voice was still hoarse. “Do you mind if I take a shower?” He looked vaguely uncomfortable and Kon felt like he’d been dunked in cold water.

“Right! Of course!” he said, pulling his hands away from Tim’s hips and letting them fall awkwardly onto the couch.

Eyes full of regret, Tim made an aborted move to say something, before dropping it and sliding out of Kon’s lap instead.

“You’ll…” Tim said with forced casualness, “You’ll be here when I get back?”

Kon smiled despite himself. “Of course I will be.”

The expression he got in return made all the anxiety and worry worth it.

”Thank you.”

Kon watched him walk away, noting his rumpled dress shirt and slacks. He realized immediately he’d go crazy if he just sat there and waited for Tim to come back, so instead he set about finding a way to get Tim a cup of coffee.

***

In the end, a cup of coffee wasn’t hard to manage at all.

The truth was, he remembered every word of what Tim had told him about this place all those weeks ago. He remembered about the convenient location, the free basement, the nice-but-not-too-friendly neighbors that Tim had already looked into, and most importantly he remembered about the coffee shop not five minutes away.

In hindsight, the amount of research Tim had put into an apartment that was clearly intended to be way more than just a safe house should have tipped Kon off just as much as the bruises had. Tim had been looking for a way out even before he realized he needed one. Kon was torn between running back to the apartment to just hold Tim again and being weirdly proud? It just seemed like such a Tim thing; the kind of personal that could leave a person speechless, but at the same time such a calculated tactical move performed as if it were second nature.

He wondered if Tim even realized that the apartment had always been for just this reason.

There wasn’t time to think too much about it however before a twenty something barista snapped him out of his musings by asking him for his order.

A few minutes later he was back in the apartment and the water was still on. He’d ended up getting Tim some soup too. And a muffin. He’d gotten a pastry for himself.

Setting the food down on the counter, he cast a more critical eye around the apartment. The front door opened into a small greeting area that connected to the spacious living room via a short hallway. The only things separating the living room from the kitchen was a free standing island and a shift from fluffy carpet to practical hardwood. A hallway shooting off the kitchen contained four doors, two of which were open to reveal small bedrooms. The other was the bathroom, so Kon took a chance and poked his head in the fourth. Sure enough, it was a small supply closet that already had a box of cleaning supplies at the bottom and a few linens pushed into the back. Tim would probably need to buy more towels and some better sheets. Closing the door, he returned to the living room.

Besides the simple black leather furnishings, there were bar stools and upon closer inspection of the cabinets… a box of fruit loops? Raoh, as if coffee wasn’t bad enough, now Tim intended to sustain himself on fruit loops alone as well? Kon made a mental note to make sure Tim did some grocery shopping.

The drawers revealed expensive silver cutlery that looked like it was straight out of Downton Abby. (Which he _totally_ wouldn’t know about. Shut up Cassie.) The strangest part was that each individual spoon knife and fork looked like it was from a different set. Kon was pretty sure it wasn’t the Drake’s and somehow he doubted Tim had bought it for himself which left… Selina?

Kon almost burst out laughing. He’d have to ask for the story behind that someday.

_Someday._

Kon was suddenly struck by how very domestic this could all be. He was standing in Tim’s apartment, looking over his things and thinking about what Tim would have to buy like they were moving in together or something. Thinkin about _someday_ was just the icing on the frickin’ cake, wasn’t it?

Another less cynical voice in Kon’s head fought back; why was it such a foreign thought to believe he and Tim had a someday?

Was it because they were heroes who could literally die at any moment? Was it because Kon was a fucking _clone_ of Superman and _Lex Luthor_ without much to offer who didn’t even know what domestic _was_ , nevermind how to achieve it with someone as amazing as Tim and-

Well, shit. Where had _that_ come from?

Kon didn’t have time to think about it because the water shut off and the next moment Tim was stepping out in an oversized sweatshirt that probably wasn’t his and sweatpants.

“Coffee and soup’s on the counter,” Kon said with a soft smile.

Tim returned it gratefully and sat down on one of the stools, pulling the bowl towards him and unwrapping one of the plastic spoons.

“You know you have silverware, right? Really _nice_ silverware.”

“Yeah… That’s from Selina.” Looked down at his soup and laughing quietly, Tim took a few bites to buy time before saying, “The first job we went on together was this rich Gothamite named Jake Nag who lives in an absolutely ridiculous penthouse downtown. It took me forever to convince Selina to let me come, and in the end she only did because we needed to simultaneously disarm the security system from two places. We spent weeks preparing because Selina wanted the job to go perfectly.”

Tim frowned. “Nag was… well I suggested him as a mark actually. He’s kind of a… business associate of my parents and let’s just say he was a dick to me at the last gala.” Pain flashed across Tim’s face, but he kept going. “Anyway, when we got there Selina, cleaned the guy out. Money, jewls, the lot, but she wanted me to take something. Told me I should have something to… remember the occasion. I told her I didn’t need anything, but she insisted, so I chose a single spoon. Got a laugh out of her and after that she brought me back silverware from every job. It all just kind of… added up I guess.” Having finished his story, Tim took a long pull from his coffee.

Kon laughed. It was such a small thing, but judging from the amount of cutlery in Tim’s drawer, he’d probably kept all of them.

An easy silence fell between them as Kon sipped his own coffee. Tim was stalling, but Kon didn’t mind. He would talk when he was ready.

“I think I always knew,” Tim said abruptly. He took a deep breath, but now that the dam was broken it was like he couldn't keep the words in any longer. “About my parents I mean. Some part of me must have seen the signs, even if I wasn’t able to acknowledge them.” He’d finished his soup and now his hands were wrapped tight around the coffee cup. “I… I thought whatever they did I deserved. They… they said everything they did was what was best for me and I _believed_ them.”

Kon pursed his lips, forcing himself to let Tim talk, to not intervene.

“Even tonight, I was still so scared of her that in the end, I just ran. I couldn’t take it. She knew just how to get under my skin, to make me feel like a kid again. She made me feel powerless and… ashamed to just _exist_ , it was terrible.” Tim seemed to curl in on himself, clutching the coffee closer. “And even now I still feel so _lost._ What comes next?” The question was asked will an edge of desperation as Tim finally looked at Kon, his eyes crystal clear and begging Kon’s for an answer.

In that moment Kon would have moved whole constellations if it meant he could look into the future and give Tim the answer he wanted. But he couldn’t.

“You get to decide. It’s your life, and no one can tell you what to do with it anymore,” Kon said, willing Tim to believe him, to believe that he could be free from his parents.

Tim pursed his lips, searching Kon’s face for a trace of doubt or dishonesty. “I don’t know what that means though.”

Kon turned to properly face Tim. “What do you want it to mean? What do you want to do Tim?”

Tim took a long drink from his coffee to stall for time. When he finally answered, he couldn’t seem to look at Kon. “I don’t know,” he whispered. “What I _want_ hasn’t ever really been a factor.”

Shoving aside the sadness that came with those words, Kon tried again, “What makes you happy?”

“Explosions,” Tim said immediately.

Kon laughed. “Try to dig a little deeper.”

His lips still curling faintly upward, Tim mulled over his response. Kon took the opportunity to drain the rest of his own coffee.

“You do.” Kon’s heart skipped several beats in a row. “And the team. And of course, the Bats, although some more than others and I have a theory that the nature of our relationships depend on the phases of the moon because there is no other explanation for how Jason can want to strangle me one day and the next be chill with helping me hide a body if I asked.” Kon laughed. “But I digress.”

He paused for a moment, to consolidate his thoughts. “I think being a cape makes me happy. My work as Red Robin, helping people, the action, the challenge of it all… ”

“What else?”

Biting his lip, Tim continued more uncertainly, “I actually do rather enjoy business. What my parents did was wrong, what they made me do was even worse, but… I spent a lot of time watching them work, learning about the legitimate side of things and it always interested me.”

“Maybe you could be a CEO,” Kon mused.

Tim laughed. “Yeah right. To be a CEO I’d need a…” he trailed off.

“What?”

“I’d need a company,” Tim finished faintly.

“And… ?”

Tim turned to look at him, his expression careful and guarded like he was sizing up an enemy, but his eyes bright. “I can get a company.”

“You can… of course you can.” Kon breathed out, rolling his eyes to the ceiling.

“With the dirt I have on them I could take half the companies stock with me in the split. With that kind of sway with the board, I could get myself appointed CEO.” Tim bit his lip. “But… it would always be _Drake_ Industries, and I’d probably have to wait a few years to be old enough anyway.”

Kon frowned like someone had shoved a lemon in his mouth. “Screw them, make your own company and destroy DI on the field of… business or whatever.”

Tim laughed. “It’s not that simple. I mean, I have my whole… life.” He cursed softly, laughing bitterly. “ _My whole life,_ ” he repeated sarcastically. “Like I’m not gonna die young and bloody.”

“Don’t say that.”

Rolling his eyes, Tim quipped, “Unlike some people, I don’t have bullet proof skin.”

Kon put a hand on Tim’s shoulder, forcing the other boy to look at him with the simple touch. “Please Tim, don’t say that. I- I don’t know what I’d do if you-” Kon cut himself off when panic began edging into his voice.

Tim looked at Kon’s eyes then down at his hand then back to Kon again. “Okay. I won’t.”

Deciding to take him at his word, Kon dropped his hand and looked away. “Good, because I will _personally_ go to heaven and pull your feathery ass back to Earth.”

“What makes you think I wouldn’t be going to hell?” Tim asked innocently.

“You’d probably overthrow the devil.”

Tim smiled- ironically- devilishly.

Which was when Kon’s phone rang.

He shot Tim an apologetic look as he answered, “Hello.”

“ _What’s going on?!_ ” Cassie asked shrilly. “ _The Bats are freaking out, Tim’s missing and you’re MIA! Where are you?_ ”

Kon covered the receiver with his hand, mouthing to Tim, _It’s Cassie, what do you want me to say?_

Shrugging, Tim mouthed back, _The truth is fine_.

“Yeah, I’m ah, actually with him now,” Kon hedged.

“ _Oh my gods, you absolute_ ass- _we’re all going crazy and you already found him? Is he okay? Should we come over? Should I get the Bats?_ ”

Tim shook his head. “I don’t think I can handle their guilt right now.” He paused, thinking about the last time he saw them. “Or mine for that matter.”

Kon made a mental note to keep his own guilt in check. He understood that expressing it would only make Tim feel worse, so he told Cassie, “Don’t tell the Bats.”

“ _Okay,_ ” she said uncertainty. “ _Can we do anything? Bring movies, or food, or something?_ ”

Tim blinked in surprise. Before muttering, “If they want to come I guess they can… ”

Beaming, Kon told Cassie, “Come on over. Bring some movies- maybe sci fi?- and some blankets.” He gave them the address and hung up.

“I guess I should figure out how to set up the TV, huh?”

***

Bart took one step into Tim’s apartment before muttering something along the lines of, “Well that won’t work… ” and flashing away.

Cassie stared after him in bewilderment, but Jaime just stepped inside and said, “Nice place.”

Deciding to follow Jaime’s lead and ignore Bart’s sudden disappearance, Cassie set the considerably sized bag she was holding onto the coffee table. “We brought candy, popcorn, ice cream, and movies. We couldn’t decide which movies you’d like,” she said to Tim, “so we brought a selection. We figured you’ve already seen every sci fi movie known to man so we brought cheesy rom coms, buddy cop movies, action-that’s-so-bad-funny, and mixes of all three.”

Tim noted and appreciated the obvious lean towards light hearted movies. “Those sound great.”

Before any of them could blink a strong wind blew through the apartment. When Bart solidified next to Jaime he held his arms out to present the living room like a magician. “Ta dah!”

The previously barren living room was now full of cushy looking pillows, artfully splayed across the floor along with several blankets. The lights were turned off, but it didn’t matter because he’d lined the whole area with fairy lights. The effect was a cozy looking haven around the TV, bracketed in by the couch and fairy lights.

Tim smiled softly. “Thanks Bart.”

Bart’s return smile was far smaller than his regular million-watt smile, but it was more _real_. “Of course Tim. We’ll always be here for you.”

Placing a hand on Bart’s shoulder, Jaime nodded his agreement.

Cassie didn’t bother with vocal reassurance, she stepped right up and hugged him. He could feel her starting to pull back, knowing he didn’t like to be touched without explicit protection, but that was stupid and he’d given up on trying to protect himself from caring about these people, so he wrapped his arms around Cassie and hugged her back.

A couple hours later there was a comedy action movie on called ‘The Hitman’s Bodyguard’ that Bart said Hal had suggested to Barry. Cassie had fallen asleep beside Tim with her back against the couch and Kon was spread out on a pile of pillows on the floor with his head on Tim’s lap.

Jaime had claimed the couch for himself as soon as they turned the movie on, so naturally Bart had immediately sat on him. Now the couple was cuddling with Bart’s head resting on Jaime’s chest.

“Thanks,” Bart murmured into the darkness.

It took Tim a moment to realize he was the only one left awake that Bart could be talking to. “For what?” he asked drowsily.

“For helping me get my shit together. For recognizing my lies. Just for being my friend, I guess.”

Tim shrugged. “Takes a liar to know one. Besides I didn’t do much.”

After a few moments of silence, Bart said, “Yet here I am. Finally starting to heal because you were a good enough friend to know I wasn’t okay.” Tim turned around to look at Bart. “That sounds like a lot to me.”

Tim swallowed. “I… I’m happy I could help?” He didn’t know what else he could say.

“I’d like to return the favor someday,” Bart said seriously. “If you ever need anything… I’ll be there.”

Tim nodded, but he didn’t know how to respond, so he just held Bart’s gaze for as long as he could before nodding slightly again and turning back to the movie.

Minutes later, Bart was asleep.

Tim joined him soon after, lulled to sleep by soft lights, soft pillows, and soft snores.

***

Tim’s eyes snapped open. For a moment he couldn’t remember where he was and then-

“Shit!”

He lunged for his oven mitts to pull out the chicken. Just as he’d thought, it was drier than Alfred’s wit, but somehow the potatoes needed another thirty minutes. Why did the baking gods hate him so?

He set the pan aside with an unsatisfied huff. They would be here soon for dinner, he needed to hurry, but he’d already ruined the chicken, he could hardly ruin everything else as well.

He was just wondering if he’d remembered to buy mix to make a brownie when strong arms suddenly wrapped around his waist, causing him to start in surprise. “If you leave that broccoli on any longer, it’s going to be so mushy we could drink it, babe,” a voice said in Tim’s ear.

Tim laughed in relief, relaxing into the arms and turning off the stove before covering the hands on his stomach with his own. “Better?”

“Much,” he responded, nuzzling into Tim’s neck.

Tim giggled with unrestrained glee. “Kon! Stop, you know I’m ticklish-”

“Do I know that? I think could use a reminder.”

“Yes. You do.”

The nuzzling turned into open mouthed kisses and Tim just barely managed to hold in a moan.

“You know,” Kon said conversationally between kisses, “we have some time before the others get here for dinner. We could-”

“Kon!” Tim chastised without any real heat. “They could walk in at any minute.”

Kon made a point of gently biting Tim’s earlobe before responding, “Bart and Jaime have to drop Kya off with her babysitter and they’re always late anyway.” he worked his way back to where Tim’s neck joined his shoulder, and Tim couldn’t stop himself from tilting his head to grant him easier access. “And Cassie can’t come till later anyway.”

“I suppose there _is_ thirty minutes left on the potatoes… “

“We can do a _lot_ in thirty minutes.”

Snorting softly, Tim turned around to offer his boyfriend an enthusiastic yes, but he was nowhere to be seen.

Tim blinked at their empty apartment. “Kon?” he called tentatively, stepping out of the kitchen and into the living room, only instead of carpet, his boot fell on cement.

“Was it worth it?”

Tim whirled around, pressing his bo staff into Ra’s Al Ghul’s neck. “What are you talking about?” he demanded fiercely, glaring at the Demon’s Head from behind his domino mask.

Ra’s laughed, turning his head just enough to spit blood onto the roof before turning his gaze back to Tim. “Defeating me. It cost you everything.”

Suddenly Tim looked around to see he was surrounded by bodies, each their own horrific nightmare. His head swivelled so fast his neck hurt as he took in all the unique ways everyone he cared about had died.

Dick’s body was twisted unnaturally as if he’d fallen there from several stories up; Bruce was bent over his youngest son with so many swords sticking out of his back that he resembled a pin cushion; Damian’s spiky black hair just barely poked out from beneath Bruce, his lifeless hand still clutching his katana; Jason had a batarang protruding from his chest and for the life of him, Tim couldn’t remember who’d thrown it; Selina’s eyes were scratched out and her mouth agape with a trickle of blood just starting to dry; Steph’s body was so burnt, Tim only knew it was her from a scrap of purple cloth; the only part of Cass he could see was a single gloved hand sticking out from beneath a pile of faceless bodies; Barbra was nowhere to be seen, but her wheelchair lay beside Dick, just as crushed as his body; Jaime’s armour was cracked open to reveal his chest cut open and his guts strewn around him; Bart was less than three feet away, his arm extended towards his boyfriend as he tried to reach him, even in death; Cassie’s own lasso was tied around her neck, her eyes bulging and her fingers blue; Kon was on his knees right in front of Tim, veins bulging green on his neck.

“So was it worth it detective?” Ra’s voice seemed to echo around Tim, sinking into his very _soul._

His costume suddenly felt as though it were strangling him, but he couldn’t make himself look away from Kon.

”Why couldn’t you love me?” Kon asked, betrayal making his voice an octave too high- or maybe it was pain. “We tried Tim, we told you we would stay with you and we did, but you just couldn’t love us back. _You_ did this to us. You _killed_ us just so you could get revenge. We begged you to stop, but instead you just got us all killed! How could you do this to us? To me?” Tim dropped his bo staff, backing away from Kon and covering his ears. “They’re all dead because of you and soon I will be too.”

Tim bumped into something hard and whirled around.

“TIMOTHY JACKSON DRAKE WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU WEARING?!”

Tim flinched, falling to his knees and pleading with his mother, “It’s nothing- just a costume- it doesn’t mean anything!”

Janet Drake loomed over him, ten feet tall and angry as all hell. “ _Of course it means something._ It means my son is a coward who can’t do anything right. Answer me this Timothy, How long have you been vigilante scum?” Before Tim could answer she went on, “In my own home! When you’re father hears about this, he’ll make sure you won’t be able to leave your bed let alone the house.”

Somewhere an explosion sounded and Tim turned to look at it but there was nothing there. He looked back at Janet, but she was gone too. In her place was a panther.

The panther was two times the size it should be, its lazy green eyes watching Tim carefully, but without an ounce of fear. It tilted its great head and without further invitation, Tim stumbled towards it, knowing instinctively this was safe. He wrapped his arms around its neck and buried his face in its sleek fur.

Nothing existed but the comforting void of the panther.

He was vaguely aware that the panther’s purrs sounded more like singing, but the lullabye was in a far off language he didn’t know.

Just as the void seemed absolute, the song changed, and this language he did speak.

 

_“Not long ago, love, as I lay sleeping_

_I dreamt I held you in my arms_

_But when I awoke, love, I was mistaken_

_The next day, I couldn't look you in the eye_

_You are my moonlight, my shining star_

  
_You light my way, when darkness reigns_

_You’ll never know love, how much I need you_

_Please don’t take, my light away_

_I'll always love you and make you happy_

  
_If only you, would say the same_

_But I fear you’ll never believe me_

_And you'll regret it all some day”_

***

“I believe you.”

Kon’s voice suddenly failed him when he heard Tim’s murmured words.

He wasn’t sure which part to be more alarmed about, the fact that Tim was awake, that he’d clearly understood Kon because he’d responded in Kryptonian, or the words themselves.

“I guess he’s awake,” Cassie said in amusement, the hand that she’d been carding through Tim’s hair stilling.

Sighing, Tim sat up, rubbing his eyes as he did so. Kon’s heart skipped a beat at how adorable he looked. Blinking slowly, Tim asked through a yawn, “Anybody got coffee?”

Kon made a choked noise in the back of his throat, his cheeks flushing with as his brain did overtime to try and process Tim’s adorableness and Kon’s embarrassment at the same time.

Luckily, Bart had no such issue. “Back in a flash,” he said, vanishing with a gust of air.

Seemingly satisfied that coffee was being taken care off, Tim ran his fingers through his hair. “So how long was I out?”

“Ten hours or so.” Cassie shrugged. “We woke up about half an hour ago, but we figured we should let you sleep. You kind of started to… twitch? We figured it was nightmares, hence the lullabyes.”

“Right… ” Tim frowned for a moment before his expression cleared and he easily joked, “I dreamt I was on Hell’s Kitchen and Gordon Ramsay was yelling at me because I burnt the chicken.”

It was an obvious lie, but a hilarious one.

He didn’t notice Tim was looking at him slyly out of the corner of his eye until the boy spoke up. “So… Kon sang to me?”

Kon had the distinct feeling he was rapidly losing all control of this conversation. “So did Cassie and Jaime!” he said defensively. “And it was just an old Kryptonian song Kara taught me when I was- a while ago.”

Tim raised his eyebrows at Kon in a way that made him squirm, but he managed to play it off with a shrug.

“It was actually my idea,” Jaime said. “Whenever I had nightmares, my mamá used to sing to me so I figured it might help.”

In a moment that shifted his worldview ever so slightly, it occured to Kon that Jaime had by far the most normal childhood of all of them.

“Mom didn’t sing a lot of lullabyes to me, but I used to research greek ones in my spare time,” Cassie offered.

Tim visibly swallowed. “What, Bart didn’t sing to me too? I’m hurt.”

Just then Bart appeared with a tray of cups and a bag. “Sorry her-man-o, but all the lullabies from the future are either very depressing or wordless, so I mostly just hummed.”

Tim seemed unable to form a response to that, but Jaime distracted them by wrapping an arm around his boyfriend and pulling him down onto the couch with him. “Remind me to teach you some happier songs, cariño,” he said, kissing the side of Bart’s temple.

Bart positively beamed as he passed out the food and drinks: “White mocha frappuccino with an espresso shot, espresso frappuccino, starbucks doubleshot on ice, and one black coffee.”

“Jaime I think I’m going to have to steal your boyfriend.” Tim said seriously, shaking off his speechless stupor to take a long drink from his cup.

The boy in question tilted his head to the side as if someone was whispering in his ear. “Personally, I’d like to see you try, but Kahji says we’ll fight you for him.”

Kon had no idea who that was, but based on Tim’s laugh, he decided he liked ‘Kahji’.

They dug into the doughnuts and muffins with a gusto only starving teenagers can manage.

“So… what was in the envelope?” she asked Tim slyly.

Tim blinked slowly, reminding Kon of a cat. “Envelope?”

“The one you gave Selina.”

Even Bart’s speedster appetite couldn’t keep him from looking up in interest.

“When you left,” Kon explained, “she opened it and started laughing. Dick asked what was so funny, but she just smiled and told him she just got some really good news.”

Silence stretched for a moment, and to everyone’s surprise, Tim blushed. “I- uh… ” he stammered.

“Holy Hera, now you have to tell us!” Cassie said.

He could get out of this, but realistically, whatever they could think up would probably be worse than the truth.

Resigning himself to borderline humiliation, he stood up and grabbed his phone, unlocking it and navigating to the pictures he’d taken for Selina.

Without preamble, he handed the phone to Cassie and immediately retreated into his sweatshirt like a turtle.

Kon spared a moment to be amused at Tim’s childlike behavior before shifting around so he could see what Cassie was looking at.

His heart promptly stopped and restarted again at nearly twice its original pace.

_Holy shit,_ what was Tim _wearing?_

He’d thought the Red Robin costume was tight, but this was on a whole other level. Suddenly the room felt way too hot.

Jaime muttered in Spanish, “... ay de mi… _dios,_ Tim… “

Right. There were other people in the room.

Bart was doubled over coughing- presumably from the coffee he’d inhaled. Jaime was staring at the ceiling and rubbing Bart’s back, his cheeks distinctly more pink than they usually were. Kon was beet red, his eyes still glued to the phone in Cassie’s hands.

Tim cleared his throat, drawing four pair of eyes to him. “So, uh, what do you think?”

“ _What do we think?_ Tim!” Kon made a sound in his throat that might have been agreement at Cassie’s words. “I knew you had a thing for leather, but I didn’t know you looked this good in it.”

“Um… thanks?”

“I mean, obviously you’re hot, anyone with eyes knows that, right Kon?” The clone in question somehow blushed even deeper. “But, Eros Timmy. You could cut glass with those hips. What is this? Is it a new costume design you’re working on?”

“Sort of?” Tim pulled the rest of the way out of his sweatshirt, looking a strange mix of relieved and even more embarrassed. “It’s uh… actually an old design. Selina’s been holding onto it for years, and I… well I needed it for a mission so… yeah.”

“Do you ever think you’ll use it?”

“Well… ” Tim drawed out. “I sort of already took it for a field test and yeah. I think I might.” He hadn’t thought about it too much, but… well, in a way he’d already told Selina. “I became Red Robin when I was in a really dark place. Stray was always happier for me. So, maybe now that I’m healing… that’s what I need.”

Kon’s blush finally seemed to die down as he smiled softly. Proudly. Tim couldn’t seem to look away from it.

“Would you still be a Bat?”

Tim shrugged. “I don’t see why not. If I had to hazard a guess I’d say in the next year or two Selina will be a Bat too. Besides, ” he grinned, “Steph and Dick would kill me before they stop calling me their brother.”

“You got that right,” Kon agreed.

Silence stretched.

“So anyway, what Hogwarts house do you think Bart’s in?”

“Hufflepuff.”

“Gryffindor.”

“Ravenclaw.”

Cassie, Kon, and Jaime all turned to look at each other in bewilderment.

“Interesting,” Tim said seriously, tearing off another bite of his muffin. “Care to discuss?”

“What’s Hogwarts?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And thus I have fulfilled my obligatory DCEU actor reference for this fic.


	31. Storytime

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Tim:** So my life is over  
>  **Kon, Cassie, Bart, and Jaime:** Let us love and support you!!  
>  **Tim:** … ok  
>  ***Cue sleepover and snuggles***  
>  **Tim:** Hey guys, what Hogwart’s house do you think Bart’s in?

In the end, they determined that Bart’s personality and actions offered ample evidence for pretty much every Hogwarts house, and agreed to settle the argument by just having Bart take the official quiz.

More importantly, they also had to make him actually watch the Harry Potter movies. _And read the books,_ Tim had added.

Bart was about half way through (with four other teenagers leaning over his shoulder to suggest answers, progress was slow) when someone rung the doorbell.

They all tensed, looking at Tim with expressions varying from mild curiosity to concern.

“I think I forget to let the landlady know I was here,” he lied. His eyes might have been very wet and his voice a little wobbly, but he’d stopped in the front office to get the key from his landlady and let her know he was going to be in the apartment for awhile. The landlady looked like she wanted to argue, but she also looked like she’d rather not deal with him if he broke down sobbing so she’d handed over the key.

He rose gracefully from his spot on the floor and went to the door.

The pounding started up again just as Tim reached the door and he forcibly reminded himself to be polite before opening it with a semi-hospitable, but very forced smile. “Can I-”

“ _You fucking useless piece of shit! What did you do to your mother? I’m going to wring you’re scrawny little neck for being so disrespectful!_ ”

Jack Drake looked positively murderous. Spittle flew from his mouth and landed on Tim as he yelled, a jarringly loud wall of sound after the peaceful morning Tim had been enjoying. His face was a mesmerizing vermilion color and his posture suggested he was ready to follow through on his threat right then and there.

Tim took a step back. “Sir, I- I don’t- ”

Jack took a menacing step forward, but suddenly there was a wall of muscle between him and Tim.

“I’m gonna need to ask you to leave, _asshole._ ” He couldn’t see Jack’s expression from behind Kon, but he’d never been more grateful for his friend.

“And just who do you think you are?” Jack yelled, clearly not getting it yet.

Tim could picture Kon’s smile. “I’m his friend, and you aren’t going to touch him.”

“He’s my son! It’s my right to do whatever I damn well please!”

“He’s not your son anymore.”

“Bullshit! Do you know who I am? I can buy your sorry ass and sell it to a lab for human testing if I want-”

That struck a nerve. “You have treated me like shit my whole life, but don’t you dare speak to Kon that way,” Tim hissed, nerely shoved Kon out of the way so he could look his father in the eye. “If you _ever_ threaten my friend again, I will make sure you never hold a position of power for the rest of your miserable life. You want to meddle with my life? Well turnabout is fair play.” Tim’s lips twisted into a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “I’m sure you’d enjoy customer service _loads. _”__

__  
_ _

Jack sneered. “And how would you manage that?”

“Well I imagine I’d use the large media presence you and mother have so carefully crafted for me over the years and the stock in DI I’m going to inherit in about two months.”

For the first time Jack faltered. “What?”

“Did you forget already father dearest?” There was nothing remotely warm or familial in Tim’s voice. “My birthday is just around the corner and I’ll be eighteen. Legally free from you in every way, and more importantly, I’ll be taking half of your shares in DI as my gift. As well as access to my trust fund which if I remember correctly, includes a couple million dollars and a few properties that you haven’t used in years.”

If Jack had been red before, he looked more like a grape about to explode now. “Why you dirty ingrate of a child, I will have you ruined before you can so much as-”

“You will do no such thing.” Tim took his own step forward, looking his father over and finally seeing him for what he was. An old drunk who he’d let hate poison his life. He was no father, and Tim let his contempt show on his face as he stood almost nose to nose with the man who had put him through hell.

“You know, mother always scared me more. She was the smart one, you were just an abusive _pig._ ” Tim’s voice was cold and soft, a tone he’d never taken with his father before and Jack seemed so taken aback by it, he couldn’t form a response.

With all the layers of conditioning and denial peeled away, Jack was rather unimpressive. He was responsible either directly or indirectly for over half the scars on Tim’s body- and those were just the wounds that had left a lasting mark- yet here he stood, disheveled and nerely purple with rage, and nothing more than an old man who reeked of booze.

“You _will_ leave this place and never return.” Tim finally said, enunciating each word to make absolutely sure they got through Jack’s alcohol haze. “I’ll have my lawyer contact yours at _my_ earliest convenience to settle the paperwork, but you would do well to remember I have the power here and I don’t intend to let you hurt me ever again.”

Jack knew he was beat, but he was angry, drunk, and not all that intelligent to begin with, so he threw a punch anyway.

Tim forced himself not to flinch, in fact, he didn’t move a single muscle.

Kon caught Jack’s fist half a foot away from Tim’s face, squeezing a little harder than was humanly possible before shoving him away so hard he fell on his butt.

“You son of a bitch!” Jack yelled scrambling to his feet. “What are you?!”

Kon smiled dangerously. “What will be coming for you if you ever hurt Tim again.”

Jack’s eyes darted between the two of them. He looked like he was on the verge of retreating when he spat. “You fucking fag.”

Well. That was not the insult Tim was expecting. “That didn’t bother you when you sold a thirteen year old boy to a forty year old man.”

Jack sneered, but he didn’t seem to have a good come back because he just tugged on his suit jacket as if to straighten it and walked away, muttering murderously.

Tim slammed the door. Staring at it angrily as he started to put plans together in his head. He’d need to choose a lawyer, but between himself and Bruce it wouldn’t be too tricky to find one that wasn’t corrupt to help him with his case. He’d also need to apologize to the Landlady about the noise.

“Tim,” Kon said quietly, interrupting Tim’s plotting.

Tim hummed in response, dimly registering the others were standing down the hallway prepped for a fight.

“What did you mean by ‘sell you’?”

Shit.

Had he said that?

“Um…” Tim fished around for some lie or excuse, but he was so _tired_ of lying, so instead he turned around and pressed his back up against the door to block it. “Well, certain business deals require… finesse, and extra… leverage. So sometimes I would… help out?” Yeah they weren’t buying that. Time to rip off the bandage. “Look, it’s not that big of a deal. Sometimes I just had to go spend a few nights with some rich idiots.” He shrugged. “It was a way for me to help out I guess.”

Kon saw red. He looked past Tim towards the door as if he could use the heat vision he didn’t have to murder Jack through the walls. God, he was predictable. Tim refused to admit how endearing he found that.

He stopped Kon with a hand on his chest. “Don’t. Kon, he’s not worth it.”

“He _pimped you out_ Tim, he deserves a whole lot more than a beating.”

Tim glanced over at Cassie, Bart, and Jaime to see if they’d be any help, but they all looked ready to follow Kon into battle over this, so he sighed and turned back to Kon. “I appreciate the sentiment, but if you go and beat up Jack Drake, he’s going to send the police after you. That would look bad for the Justice League, and somebody could get hurt.” He still looked ready to grind someone to a pulp, so Tim pulled his trump card. “If Jack says that I beat him up, it’s going to hurt my case in court.”

That at least seemed to get through to Kon. Sort of. His muscles tensed, but then let let out a breath and relaxed them, finally managing to look at Tim instead of the door. “Tim… ”

“I know. I’m a fucking tragedy. I got revenge on most of them in some way or the other, how do you think Selina chooses her marks?” Sure she wasn’t _knowingly_ taking revenge for him, but it was always fun to read about his rapists’ misfortune in the papers.

“This isn’t exactly something I can just let go of.” Pain coated Kon’s voice and Tim filed this under ‘times Tim’s misfortune was hard for others to hear about and caused problems because of it’.

“I know,” he said quietly. “But it isn’t your problem right now. I promise I’ll… I don’t know, ‘deal with it’ eventually, but for right now I’m still picking up the pieces of my life. I don’t have the time to dig through that black hole.” He knew his words were a little harsh, but he kept his voice soft, silently begging them to let it go. To stop giving him pitying looks.

He’d give anything to go back in time ten minutes. Just ten minutes. That’s all he needed.

Finally Kon caved. “Okay, just promise me you’ll talk to someone about it eventually?”

Tim bit his lip. “Eventually,” he agreed.

He was so distracted by Kon’s eyes, he didn’t hear Bart mutter, “I kind of feel like I just saw my parents fight.”

In the absence of blinding anger, Kon suddenly realized he was crowding Tim up against the door and his hand was still on Kon’s chest.

He took a step back, raking a hand through his hair. Tim was going to be the death of him.

***

Jack Drake turned out to be one hell of a mood killer.

Tim probably needed the reality check anyway. As much as he wanted to, he couldn’t live in his little haven forever.

He’d texted Babs to get the word out that he was safe, but that hadn’t stopped Dick from calling him every hour until Tim gave up and decided he was going to have to go see them and offer some answers. As much as he’d like to, he couldn’t keep hiding. Particularly not when the people he was hiding with kept glancing at him sympathetically.

So he called the Batcave. Someone picked up on the second ring.

“ _Master Timothy._ ”

“A-Alfred! Sorry, I was expecting Bruce… ”

“ _Quite reasonable Master Timothy, but unfortunately Master Bruce is out. He got antsy waiting around the cave so he went on patrol._ ”

“Oh! Uh… should I call back when he gets back or… ?”

“ _That hardly seems necessary, he told me to let him know when you contacted right away. He can be home in twenty minutes._ ”

“Oh, uh okay.” Tim faltered, unsure of how to continue. “How are you?”

He could hear Alfred’s amusement in his voice. “ _Quite well. The superior inquiry would ask how you are faring?_ ”

“I’m doing okay all things considered. I… well I guess I was hoping to come over? And talk to everyone?”

“ _Excellent Master Timothy!_ ” He suddenly got the impression this was Alfred’s intent all along. “ _I can arrange a luncheon. Would you like me to invite Master Dick and Ms. Kyle as well?_ ”

“Uh yeah. That sounds great.”

“ _I will begin preparing sandwiches then._ ”

“See you soon Alfred.”

“ _I expect so, Master Timothy._ ” And he hung up.

Kon more or less demanded to escort him to Wayne Manor, but the others agreed to meet up with him later and said their goodbyes.

“What’s in the box?” Kon asked, tossing Tim his helmet.

Tim caught it in his free hand, setting the box down just long enough to secure the helmet in place. “Just something I’m tired of sitting on.”

Kon shrugged, accepting the evasion easily enough. “So are you driving or am I?”

“Ha, that’s funny,” Tim said taking the keys from Kon’s hand as he passed. “Let’s go.”

“Yes _sir,_ ” Kon muttered, taking the opportunity to appreciate how well Tim’s jeans fit before following him out the door.

The ride over was pretty uneventful, but damn if Kon wasn’t distracted. Somewhere between hearing Tim speak Kryptonian and seeing him wear the Stray costume, Kon had fallen a little more in love. The motorcycle wasn’t helping.

Tim stopped in front of Wayne Manor and based on the look he gave it, Kon was waiting for a crack of lighting and sudden ominous downpour.

“Hey, if you’re not ready to do this, we can just leave.”

Tim pulled off his helmet. “No, I… I want to do this.” He smiled at Kon as he climbed off the bike. “Thanks for bringing me. Did you want to come in?”

Kon was suddenly struck by an image of him sitting awkwardly for tea with Alfred while Bruce barely tolerated his presence and shot him continuous Batglares. He scrambled off the bike stepping away in preparation to fly back. “I’m good thanks. I just wanted to make sure you got here okay.”

Tim’s eyes softened. “I appreciate it.” He pulled the box he’d brought out of the saddle bag, and started to walk away.

Then he came back and too quickly for Kon to react kissed his cheek. “Thanks for everything,” he murmured, then he was gone.

By the time Kon lifted his hand to his cheek in a daze, Tim was already halfway to the door.

Raoh he was so gone on this boy… 

***

Welp. He’d just done that.

Time to shove it in a box and tuck that box away so he wasn’t thinking about it while talking to Bruce.

Alfred opened the door before he could even ring the doorbell. “Come in, Master Timothy.”

Tim smiled gratefully and stepped inside. “Is ah, Bruce back yet?“

Taking his leather jacket, Alfred told him, “Yes, he’s waiting for you in the study. I set out sandwiches.”

Tim couldn’t help but smile at that. “Thanks Alfie.”

What was he even going to say?

_Hey remember how you just found out about my abusive parents? Well guess what, I just disowned them! Mostly. Stood up to them? Well I blackmailed them and I’m not going back, that’s for sure._

Oh well, no time to plan now. That was okay. He thought best on his feet. Usually. He’d be fine. He could coast through this conversation on chronic anxiety and the coffee he’d drunk this morning.

He stepped inside the study.

“Heeeey Bruce. What’s up?” He said, using the more than awkward greeting to stall for time as he cased the room. One exit to his back, two windows behind Bruce’s desk- decorative, but bullet proof- three… non-hostiles… in the chaires, Alfred’s sandwiches on the coffee table with a pitcher of water and several glasses (potential weapons). Non-hostiles unarmed but dangerous. Emotionally speaking. And physically speaking, but he figured he was probably safe on that front.

Selina straightened with interest when she saw what he was holding. “Is that-?”

“Yeah.” He didn’t elaborate further. A silent conversation passed between them as he sat down stiffly across from his… parental figures? He wasn’t ready to admit it, but Bruce was sort of more of a dad than Jack was and Selina was pretty much already his mom. Dick was just… a very dad-like older brother. On the other hand, he didn’t have the best track record with parents so maybe that was a bad comparison.

“Are you okay?” Dick blurted out when no one else tried to break the silence.

Tim shrugged. “Depends on your definition of okay I guess. Like, okay as in physically? Yes. More so than usual actually because I got like ten hours of sleep last night which is unprecedented actually and obviously my hand still hurts a little bit because I sort of sprained my wrist when I punched a wall- funny story actually, I thought I broke it but I guess I got lucky and-”

He probably could have kept going for hours if Selina didn’t cut in, “Kitten, you’re rambling.”

Bruce and Dick were just staring at him like he’d been replaced by a really good copy of himself. That was fair.

“Right,” he said through a very deep breath. “Short version. I’m good. Could be a lot worse.”

“Tim what _happened?_ ” Bruce asked pleadingly.

Wow okay, Bruce was pleading with him. The last time he’d seen Bruce plead, Jason had had a knife to Tim’s throat and the ensuing fight had _not_ been pretty.

“Well, my mom called me, so I lied to you- sorry bout that- and I went to Drake Manor because I wanted to give her one last chance to, I don’t know prove she loved me? I don’t think I was thinking very clearly. Anyway she showed up and for a moment I thought we were good, but then she said some stuff, and told me I had another client to which I was like hell no and blackmailed her to-”

“Client?”

He’d really been hoping they wouldn’t notice that, but considering he’d told his team that morning and Bruce was the World’s Greatest Detective TM, it was probably better they heard this from him anyway.

“She wanted to sell me to this business dude for a few days so that he would make a deal with DI.” What they said about bandages and stuff right?

Honestly he was kind of surprised that none of them tried to go after the Drakes right then and their like Kon had.

“Tim how many clients have you had before?” Dick asked quietly.

He turned to Selina. “How many names have I put on your list?”

She gasped softly covering her mouth with a hand as she did the mental math. “Tim… you’ve been giving me names for _years._ ”

He shrugged. “Some of them were just dirty, but I couldn’t give you every client because some of them were too close to DI. It evens out, so that’s probably about right.”

Nothing makes you more aware that everyone around you is emotionally stunted than dropping bad news about yourself.

“It’s fine. It happened. It sucked. It’s over. There isn’t anything you can do that will change that, so if you could not ask me about it right now, I’d appreciate that.” They weren’t about to drop this, but Tim decided he didn’t give a shit because he was the one that got raped, he could decide when he was ready to talk about it.

Right now he decided he didn’t want their sympathy or their guilt. He just wanted to get through this conversation.

They must have seen the steel in his eyes because Bruce stopped looking like someone just died and instead looked more mildly concerned.

“Anyway, I told my mother about the evidence against her I’ve collected over the years and told her if she didn’t let me leave, I’d ruin her and father. Then I left and I’ve spent the last twenty four hours or so with Kon, Bart, Jaime, and Cassie.”

Dick couldn’t help it, he laughed. Tim kind of loved him for that. “So you’re saying that after so many years blocking us, you’ve had evidence against them this whole time?”

“Yup.” Tim popped the p. He knew it was inappropriate for Dick to laugh and for him to appreciate him laughing, but they weren’t a normal family and making light of it helped. He might not feel the same when he was genuinely trying to work through his shit, but when he was giving them the abridged version, laughing was good.

“Where are you staying?” Bruce asked, always one for practicality.

 _That’s what you take away from all of that?_ “At an apartment I bought. I was supposed to move in when I turned eighteen, but the time table got moved up.”

“So this… apartment is to be your permanent residence?” Bruce asked carefully.

Tim felt like he was being set up, but he couldn’t figure out how. “Yes.”

Bruce nodded. “Tim, would you like to come live at the Manor?”

Tim’s thought process ground to a halt.

“I- what?”

Bruce shifted uncomfortably. “I assumed you plan to legally split from your parents, the sooner the better, and in order to do so as a minor you need a temporary guardian.”

He wasn’t wrong. “Are you… offering?”

More discomfort. “Yes.”

Oh. _Oh._

”Bruce you don’t have to do that.” Tim frowned. For a moment he’d thought… nevermind. “I know you feel responsible for me and all because I was a Robin, but I can figure something else out.”

Selina and Dick shot Bruce matching glares, but Tim couldn’t figure out why.

Bruce looked even more constipated than before. “No Tim, I’m not offering because I feel obligated. I’m offering because I _want_ you to live here. If that’s okay with you.”

Tim was speechless for several moments, and then- “Okay.”

Wait- what? Wasn’t this a little sudden? Why was he agreeing? “That’s uh, very okay with me,” he said again, more firmly this time.

He wasn’t sure if living with Bruce would actually be any better than living alone, and there was Damian to consider, but at least he’d have Alfred’s cooking.

He was going to keep the apartment of course, but that was semantics that he could figure out later.

“Damn, I was going to offer the same thing,” Selina joked, “fight me for him?”

Tim was the only one who laughed.

“That much Cat under one roof? Even the Bats wouldn’t be able to handle us.”

It was Selina’s turn to laugh while Dick and Bruce stared at them in bewilderment.

“That’s what I’m counting on, kitten.”

Bruce finally gave in. “How do you two even know each other?” he asked helplessly. Another emotion Tim didn’t associate with Batman.

“Which is also partly why I’m here. With Selina’s permission of course, I’d like to tell you about that.”

Selina nodded.

“Okay well, I guess I should start with this.” Tim placed the box on the table, pushing it towards Bruce and taking a sandwich.

He bit into it and almost moaned. Alfred made good lunch.

“What are these?”

Tim swallowed his instinctive witty retort about Bruce’s detective skills to instead answer, “They’re pictures. I took them years ago.”

Bruce looked back down at them, slowly pulling out picture after picture and spreading them out on the table. Some of them were better than others.

Most were little more than vaguely human shaped blurs in front of a dark Gotham sky, but Tim had never been able to make himself destroy even the worst of them.

It wasn’t until Bruce got to the bottom that Tim found he suddenly had to look away. Those were the ones he was the most proud of. The ones he’d risked life and limb to get on cold Gotham nights while drug dealers prowled the street below him.

Batman silhouetted on the edge of a building with his grappling hook ready to fire. Robin in perfect diving form with nothing more than a thin string going from his hand to the top of a building to suggest he wasn’t about to splatter onto the cement. Batman and Robin back to back and surrounded by drunken gang bangers with knives. And many more like them.

At the very bottom of the pile was his favorite. A side profile of Jason in the Robin costume, the wind blowing his cape and tousling his hair as he stared down at the mask in his hands.

“I’ve known Bruce Wayne was batman since I was nine years old. I was following you for longer.” On some level, Bruce had known that Tim figured out he was Batman before they’d met, but that long ago? “One night I got sloppy. I was cold and hungry, and I let myself get seen. They saw my expensive camera, and they started chasing me. I didn’t have a lot of options, so I ducked into the nearest open window… and passed out. I might have been a little exhausted.”

Selina snorted. “A little?”

“What can I say? My coffee addiction goes back to the very beginning.” He winked at her. “Anyway, I was a very interesting kid, so Selina took care of me. Couple days later, I came back. We had coffee. I left. Rinse, wash, repeat. Eventually Selina decided I was going to get myself killed and started training me. By then I already knew about her being Catwoman obviously and her relationship with you.” He glanced pointedly at one of the more blurry pictures that had two outlines intertwined so closely, they almost looked like one entity.

“Guilty,” Selina said innocently.

“Anyway, as my condition for letting her train me, she had to let me help her out with her nightwork. Jason doesn’t know it, but I met him once doing work for her.” He couldn’t stop himself from smiling. “All things considered, it’s probably better he doesn’t remember that.”

Selina snorted in a very unladylike way, but Tim absolutely refused to elaborate on that point so he just kept going. “Then he died, and you got violent. Which is when I officially met you for the first time,” he said to Dick. No point mentioning that night at the circus, it would only be painful for all of them. “But you told me no. ” Dick had the decency to look guilty, but there was no malice in Tim’s voice. What’s done is done, and with the benefit of hindsight, Tim decided it was probably for the better. “So I did what I had to. Told Selina I was sorry, and forced you to make me Robin. You know the rest.”

Having finished his story, Tim picked up a lemon square and bit into it. Delicious as always. Alfred was a god.

Bruce reached the last of the photos and found the batarang. He made a distressed sound.

“I got that off some of the Riddler’s goons,” Tim offered.

Bruce stared at it.

“You can… you can have it all back. I didn’t really have the right to take those pictures, so I guess this is my way of giving them back to you.”

Silence stretched between them. Why wasn’t he saying anything?

“What, you don’t like my photography skills?” Tim joked.

“These are…”

What the fuck Bruce. Could you stop being dramatic for five seconds to finish your sentence!?

“ _... excellent._ ”

Oh.

Any annoyance he might have felt toward Bruce evaporated.

“In all those years, I never realized you were following me. And these photos are incredibly well done. How did you manage that?”

Wow. That was actually everything Tim had been hoping for since the first night he stepped into the Gotham streets to chase a shadow and his protege. “Well I figured out your patrol routes then I just… waited.”

“Tim I’m proud of you.”

“Why?” It slipped out before he could stop it.

Why did Bruce have to look so damn sad? It was like he’d aged thirty years right before Tim’s eyes. And Bruce plus thirty years was like… ancient. “Why wouldn’t I be? You’re incredibly talented Tim and this just shows it. You’ve always been resourceful and even when I was blind, you’ve always been able to see the bigger picture. I… I wasn’t in a good place when you met me and it’s only because of you that I’ve come to be in a better place now. I don’t think I tell you near enough, if I’ve ever told you at all, but I _am_ proud of you. I am proud of you and I love you like a son. I know that might not be the best choice of words considering-”

“No. It’s perfect.” He was not crying- _he was not._ “I think that’s all I’ve ever wanted.”

A hug was too much to ask for between Tim and Bruce, but Selina and Dick had no such qualms.

“Come ‘ere,” Dick said, and he _was_ crying.

He pulled Tim around the coffee table and into a bone crushing hug. Selina glared at Bruce until he joined in.

“Aw, aren’t you boys just adorable,” she cooed, superstitiously snapping a picture and sending it to Alfred. That would buy her some good will for a few weeks.

Bruce pulled away as soon as he could get away with it, but now Tim knew what it felt like to get hugged by Batman and nobody could take that information away from him.

Extracting himself from Dick (that man was an octopus in another life), was a little bit trickier, but he managed it with a pointed sniff. “When was the last time you showered?”

“Um… since you went missing?”

Tim shoved him away. “Gross!”

“I hate to ruin the mood,” Selina said, “because trust me you are all _adorable,_ but Tim, we should talk next steps.”

Tim sighed, falling onto the couch between her and Dick and curling into Selina’s side. He was getting very cuddly in his old age. “Okay, I suppose that’s only fair after the shit I put you all through.”

“First of all, you should really get some therapy kitten.”

Tim’s nose scrunched up. “Ew.”

“Don’t let Dinah hear you say that,” Dick answered.

“Ugh. Fine.” Tim buried his face in Selina’s shoulder so he could pretend therapy was very very far away and not something imminent he was agreeing to. “But our sessions have to be confidential and it has to be Dinah. Or someone else, as long as they know about capes and stuff.”

“All of Dinah’s sessions are confidential.”

Tim looked at Bruce where he was sitting in his armchair through one slit eye, the other still pressed against Selina’s shoulder. “That means when I tell Dinah about all the messed up shit my parents did, _I’m just talking to Dinah._ If it happened in the past then it’s not threatening my life, so no one else hears about it but her. No detectiving my sessions. Deal?”

Bruce opened his mouth to protest that he’d never do something like that, but they all knew he’d be lying so instead he just looked away guilty and said, “Deal.”

“So I guess we know where you’re staying at least,” Dick pointed out.

At least for now. Right now Tim was broken and lost. He knew that. They knew that. It was just a fact. But he was getting better. He needed people to help him with that part, so for now, the manor.

Once he was better however, that was another story. 

One day he was going to be completely free. He’d live in his own place, buy his own food. Total independence. Okay, maybe not _total_ independence. There was one person he wouldn’t mind sharing it with… but he couldn’t do that living in the same house as Batman and the demon brat.

They didn’t need to know that yet though.

“Don’t suppose we could convince you to take a while off as Red Robin?”

Tim smiled a bit, but he didn’t respond.

“Tim? What is it?”

Timing was everything, and what better time to talk about this than when he could ask them all at once? “Actually… there’s something I’d like to talk to you about.”

“What is it kitten?”

“Do you remember how I became Red Robin?”

They all froze. Clearly none of them were going to say it so Tim took the initiative. “I became Red Robin because Robin was taken from me. I created it because I had to do things that nobody else wanted to. Things you,” he looked at Bruce and Dick, “wouldn’t approve of.”

Considering what he’d been doing for the last week, he was still doing things that they wouldn’t approve of. No wonder he got along so well with Jason. Comparatively, anyway.

“Tim-”

“I’m not trying to blame or guilt anyone, I just want to explain,” he cut Dick’s apology off quickly and silently thanked his older brother when Dick closed his mouth and settled in to hear Tim out. Further interruptions hopefully stemmed, Tim continued.

“No one likes to talk about it, but Red Robin was never supposed to exist. It’s a paradox. There just can’t be two robins. And of course everyone’s nice enough to believe the bs that Red Robin is different because I’m not Batman’s partner, but the truth is I created Red Robin because I couldn’t let go. I was grief stricken in so many different ways, and a part of me thought that when I found Bruce, he’d make me Robin again. I couldn’t accept that my life was falling apart so much so quickly. First Bruce, then Robin, then-”

He took a shaky breath. “My parents got worse around that time too. Started seeing me as an adult I guess. At first I thought it might be a good thing, might bring us closer together, but seeing me as an adult didn’t quite mean what I was hoping it meant.” And that was all he was going to say about that.

“My point is, I created Red Robin to be a darker version of Robin. An entity that could do the things that needed to be done and go where Batman would never knowing let Robin venture. And for that I am so very sorry.” He addressed the last sentence to Dick, his eyes full of regret in a way they hadn’t been before.

Dick frowned in confusion. “What are you talking about?”

“You poured your heart and soul into Robin. You created it from a piece of yourself to be something good and light to balance out Bruce’s broodiness. I know what it means to you, and I know how hard it is to see all of us taking your name- the name your mother gave you- even if you see us as your brothers.” Dick pursed his lips. “I didn’t think about how it would hurt you to twist the Robin legacy like I did until it was too late. So for that, I’m sorry.”

Breathing out in a _what am I going to do with you?_ kind of way, Dick shook his head. “Don’t be. Sure, I wasn’t happy when Jason first put on the costume, but you’ve got it wrong. I’m _proud_ of you. _All_ of you. And my mama-” his voice curled around the word with an accent he hadn’t spoken with in years “-would have been just as proud to know I found a family like this one. She would have loved all of you.” Dick smiled, although his eyes were watering.

“I’m not the only one who put a piece of myself into Robin. Every single one of us did, and I may have created it, but you gave Robin pants, and that’s what’s really impressive here.”

Tim laughed, embarrassed when it sounded a bit like a sob, but too invested in Dick’s words to care.

“You don’t have to apologize for making Red Robin. Maybe it didn’t start out the best, but you did it! You brought Bruce back! And you’ve done so many great things using that name since.” Dick’s head tilted to the side as he considered Tim. “While we’re talking about taboo things, I don’t think I ever apologized for not believing you and making Damian Robin. I was grieving, but that’s no excuse. I should have handled it better.”

“I’m not gonna lie, I was angry at you.” Tim let the sentence hang for a moment, refusing to diminish the justified anger he’d held onto for so long. “But, with the benefit of hindsight, I understand why you did it. I still hate it, but it all turned out okay in the end and I’m not angry anymore. Not at you.”

“So… we’re good?”

Tim laughed. “Of course we’re good.” This was it. His last chance to back out and pretend this conversation had just been one long winded apology and nothing more. He didn’t take it. “But that’s not all I wanted to say.”

All three adults seemed to lean forward ever so slightly in interest. Or maybe that was just Tim.

“I’m happy I have Dick’s blessing, but it doesn’t change the dark place Red Robin comes from and it doesn’t change the fact that as long as I keep that name, I’ll be living in a shadow. Bruce, Dick, Jason, Damian… all of those names will come before Tim if I keep calling myself Robin- or any variation thereof. And I’ve always been okay with that because as long as I was in someone else's shadow, I wouldn’t have to face my own problems. I could just focus on fixing yours. But I can’t keep that up anymore. I need to stand on my own, even when it’s harder.”

“What are you saying?” Bruce asked with a carefully neutral tone that, in true Batman fashion, gave nothing away.

Tim took a deep breath in and out. “I’m saying, I can’t be Red Robin anymore. I need to be… something else.”

Selina froze.

“And I think I might have a few ideas on what that could be.”

Next great metahuman idea: splice Martian DNA with human DNA so Tim could finally find out what Bruce was thinking because his face wasn’t showing a goddamned thing.

At least Dick knew how to convey human emotion. Unfortunately, that didn’t make him any easier to read because he was the exact opposite of Bruce. There were so many emotions Tim was overwhelmed just looking at him.

Selina was a nice middle ground because he knew exactly what she was feeling, but he couldn’t look at her either because what she was _feeling_ , was smug.

“What did you have in mind?” Dick asked slowly, enunciating each word to make sure he didn’t scare Tim away.

“Well… I was thinking I could be Stray.”

Dick frowned slightly. “Stray? Isn’t that name kind of counterintuitive?”

Tim shrugged. “Not the definition I mean.”

Apparently Selina had run out of restraint. “Kitten!”

Tim laughed, rocking backward to absorb the force of her hug. “Come on Cat, I haven’t even gotten to the mushy sentimental stuff yet.”

“Don’t care. Hugs now.”

“Jesus, you sound like Steph.”

“Well maybe Steph’s got the right idea.”

“So I guess that means you’re okay with me connecting my hero work to you, even if it puts you in danger?”

“Are you kidding? You’re my kitten. I would be proud to have you wear my symbol.”

“What’s going on?” Dick whined. “I want a hug too!”

Selina adjusted her grip to hold Tim’s head to her chest as she smiled devilishly at the boys. “He’s mine now.”

“What?!”

She just laughed.

Tim couldn’t help but smile too, basking in the Selina’s happiness before finally extracting himself. “Stray is the persona I constructed while I was working with Selina. Working on it kept me sane during my childhood. It was one of the few good things I had before Robin, and maybe I can never get back the childhood I missed out on, but this would be a start.”

Dick didn’t seem to know what to say, and Bruce still looked eerily like the gargoyles he brooded next to in his stillness.

“I already have the costume.” he added helpfully. “And I’ve worked out how to adjust my gear to go with it.”

“What’s it look like?” Dick asked, seemingly relieved to have found a safe question.

Oh this was his favorite part. “It’s similar to Selina’s catsuit, but mine is layered with a leather jackets and a lot of belts. It’s way more lightweight than my Red Robin costume and its less armoured, which both have their ups and downs as qualities, but they fit my fighting style well. I might not be as flexible as you, but I tend to favour speed and intelligence over hitting hard, so the suit caters to that.” Was it bad that he’d known these things about his fighting style when he was nine?

“Of course it has the claws, but the back of my belt also holds an extendable bo staff and the belts have about the same storage space as Red Robin. My favorite part has to be the goggles though, Selina’s are good, but I’m working on getting a whole computer in mine. With Babs’ help, it shouldn’t take me long to finish working out the kinks.”

“Don’t forget the ears,” Selina chimed in.

”I’d never forget the ears. They’re part of the hood that covers my hair,” he added.

Bruce looked thoughtful as he considered the tactical advantages and disadvantages to what Tim was describing. Dick just looked excited.

“As for what it actually looks like,” Tim smiled, “let’s just say I can’t be held accountable for stealing your reputation as hottest ex-Robin.” He leaned back into the couch, smiling smugly.

Dick scoffed. “Like you could ever-” Selina cut him off by handing him her phone. Based on the way Dick’s eyebrows suddenly disappeared into his hairline, Tim guessed she’d pulled up the pictures of him in the suit. “Wow Tim… I should warn you, by big brother instincts are screaming at me to protect your modesty.”

Tim laughed. “To late for that.” At the looks on their faces he immediately apologized. “Sorry! That was a bad joke… Gallows humour and all that, you know?”

Dick sighed. “Jason is a terrible influence… ”

“No, he’s had that sense of humor since he was eight years old,” Selina muttered.

“You said you designed this when you were a kid?” Dick asked almost shrilly.

“It looked very different on a nine year old.” It hadn’t been so snug, and it had made him look small and hard to see instead of… well, like _that_.

Selina took the phone back, but not before Bruce caught a look and finally- _finally_ showed some emotion in the form of a distressed grunt.

“That’s worse than the discowing suit was.”

They all stared at him.

“Did- did you just make a _joke?_ ” Dick spluttered.

Bruce raised an eyebrow approximately 2 millimeters at him, the Bat TM equivalent of unimpressed sarcasm. It kinda reminded Tim of Alfred. “Coming from a man who’s dressed up as a Bat since he was twenty years old to practice vigilante justice, that suit was an eyesore.”

“I thought it was fashionable!”

Tim decided this meant Bruce had overcome his shock and would be able to respond if directly addressed so he finally got to his last question. “So uh, what do you think Bruce?”

“I don’t know that I’m crazy about the costume-”

“Bruce, you dressed your newly adopted orphan in green spandex booty shorts and a tunic. You do not get to comment on my apprentice’s _fully covered_ costume design,” Selina said in amusement.

Bruce couldn’t quite seem to maintain eye contact. “As I have explained numerous times, the Robin uniform was carefully designed to-”

“Yeah, yeah, _we_ know,” Selina said, but she was smiling as she leaned towards Bruce.

His face seemed to soften around the edges, almost as if he was incapable of truly frowning in her presence.

Tim couldn’t bring himself to wreck the peace, so he kept quite. Selina didn’t have that problem. “I don’t think Tim was asking about the costume though.”

Bruce took a few moments to find the right words. They were the longest moments of Tim’s life.

“I can’t say I saw this coming, but I understand your reasoning.” Bruce’s expression was ernest and he kept eye contact with Tim. “I have _never_ been able to step out of my parents shadow, and I have spent the majority of my adult life trying to stop _all_ my sons from making my mistakes. Tim, I couldn’t be prouder of you than I am right now.” His heart soared. “If you decide to become Stray, I will support you and you should know that you will always be a part of this family, no matter what you’re calling yourself.”

Selina scoffed. “Of course he will. But now I can finally take credit for some of his training as well. And more importantly, when you finally let me meet the League-” she smirked at Bruce “- I can tell them all he was my kitten before he was your birdie.”

“Selina,” Bruce growled warningly, but it came off more exasperated than anything. “We’ve talked about that.”

“Oh, you’re just scared I’ll leave you for Wonder Woman.”

“Actually I’m more worried Hal will be his usual coquettish self and I’ll have to stage the sudden disappearance of a green lantern.”

“I’m a big girl, I can take care of myself.”

“That’s what I’m worried about.”

Tim had a sudden picture of Selina clawing Hal’s eyes out.

“Ok! Two of your sons in the room. Let’s keep our clothes on, yeah?” Dick intervened.

Honestly Tim wasn’t sure who to be more grateful for. Bruce for offering his support so vocally, Selina for saving them all the embarrassment of trying to respond to the uncharacteristic verbal show of affection, or Dick for stopping the flirting.

It was a tie.

Selina laughed in the windchimes-and-champagne-glass way only she could. “Honey, you call that flirting? I could make your ears blow steam and bruce isn’t so bad himself once he lets his guard down.”

“My guard is never down,” Bruce deadpanned.

Selina’s answering smile was anything but PG. “Let’s not lie to the children.”

Deciding that Selina and Brice were just getting started, Dick changed the topic. “So why call yourself Stray?”

“Well originally it was just a really on the nose cat pun,” Tim said, smiling wistfully. “But the physics definition of the word ‘stray’ is ‘arising as a consequence of the laws of physics, and not by deliberate design’. I guess I just… like that.” He shrugged. “I am not the product of my parents abuse. I am a force of nature. Inevitable, uncontrollable, and nonconforming. Plus, the cat pun, obviously. And I mean, aren’t we all strays? It’s basically a prerequisite for the job. We found ourselves alone and abandoned, but now we’re our own hodge podge family. We’re broken, and we don’t always like each other, but we’re always there for each other. That’s something Jack and Janet never understood, but I think I do now. I’m a stray. Just like Dick and Jason and Damian. Just like both of you, and just like the girls too. It was already there, I’m just using it as my name now.”

They all stared at him.

“Wow, that’s actually really poetic,” Dick finally managed.

“Told you I hadn’t gotten to the mushy sentimental bit yet,” Tim joked to Selina.

“You will never stop surprising me kitten.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honestly, this chapter is such a weird mix of humor and serious topics because by this point, Tim has just pushed himself over the edge and Can’t Cope, even though he’s working on getting better.
> 
> But there you go. Stray!Tim is canon in this fic forever. No taking it back, sorry not sorry.
> 
> Okay, good news first, I finished the epilogue!
> 
> Bad news, there should be 2-3 chapters between here and that, and I haven't written either of them. Also, midterms are coming and I need to study, so I might miss an update or two (or they'll just come on weird days), but I'm _almost_ certain this fic will be over before the new year.


	32. Now or never

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Jack Drake:** YOU INSOLENT-  
>  **Tim:** Bye Felicia  
>  *******  
>  **Tim dropping truth bomb after truth bomb along with a bunch of scarily dark jokes:** Sorry, the old Tim can’t come to the phone right now. Why? Because he’s dead  
>  **Bruce:** You live here now

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about this, but because this is the end (and it is the last full length chapter, but more on that in the end notes) there are A LOT of callbacks and references to things that have happened earlier in this fic so just… fair warning, you might want to skim chapter titles or something if it’s been awhile since you read the begining.

It shouldn’t have been a surprise that absolutely no one was willing to let him stay at the apartment alone for even one night. Selina went with him to pick up his stuff- a single duffle bag, but a duffle bag with his life in it- and then declared she would be spending the night at the manor with Tim.

He honestly wasn’t sure if he should be thinking ‘Sleepover! Yay!’ or ‘My mother figure just used me as an excuse to sleep with my father figure.’

He felt guilty for even considering the second one when Selina politely asked Alfred if she could have the room next to Tim’s.

That night when he woke up from another nightmare, Selina was there. Slipping into bed beside him and carding her fingers through his hair soothingly until he fell back asleep and didn’t wake up again until morning.

“So what are you going to do today?” Selina asked over breakfast.

Tim took a thoughtful bite of his pancakes. “Frankly my to-do list is getting a bit long, but I think I’m going to declare today a mandatory mental health and not do any of it.”

Alfred piled more bacon onto Tim’s plate as he passed, determined to make up for a life of shitty eating habits in one breakfast.

Tim didn’t mind. Alfred’s waffles might taste like paste, but his pancakes were actually pretty good and his bacon was to die for. How he managed to balance that duality was one mystery Tim couldn’t solve.

“It might be a good idea- and this is just a suggestion- to call Steph?” Selina’s voice made it very clear she meant it as anything _but_ a suggestion.

“What?”

“Tim,” the sudden softness in her set him on edge, “you were calling out to her last night in your sleep. Not just her, but… ”

“Oh.”

He didn’t talk in his sleep did he? He’d slept around other people before, surely someone else would have mentioned it. But he did usually sleep alone, so it was possible it was a rare thing. Particularly because he probably only spoke when he was in the haze between consciousness and sleep, an area he usually skipped all together in favor of waking abruptly with a spike of adrenaline when he was around people.

What had he said when he woke up around the team?

He frowned at the smiley face Alfred had made with bacon and butter on his pancakes like it had offended him. If he could just remember… 

Oh. _Oh._

Tim propped his elbows on the table so he could bury his face in his hands.

“You okay kitten?”

Tim groaned in response.

“What was that?”

“I told Kon I believed him. In kryptonian.”

“You speak kryptonian?”

“That is so not the point C! He was singing me this kryptonian song-”

“Woah, woah, woah- _what?_ ”

Tim recounted the story to Selina, explaining about the lullabyes and what he remembered of the song Kon had been singing.

“He asked me if I believed he loved me and I said yes! What the hell was tired-me thinking?”

Selina’s bemused expression was not helping. “It was a song Tim, I’m not sure he was really-”

“There is something else. Several somethings actually.”

By the time he was done telling Selina about the truth serum and the hundreds of almosts that had passed between the two of them, she’d finished her pancakes and was nursing a cup of tea.

Alfred had disappeared a few minutes ago, but judging by the disapproving look on his face and the tightness of his lips before he’d left when Tim had asked about Bruce and Damian, the houses primary occupants had spent the entire night doing vigilante work.

Tim knew that probably meant he was missing a big case, but that was only fair considering how fast he’d passed out last night.

“Sounds like you’ve gotten yourself into quite the epic romance kitten.”

Tim blushed. “Selina!”

“What? Is that not exactly what you just said? Tim, this boy loves you, and it couldn’t be more obvious the feeling’s mutual, so why haven’t you done anything about it yet?”

“I… ” Did he actually have a good excuse? “Well he hasn’t done anything either!”

“Tim, you’ve been threw a lot in the past few weeks, he probably doesn’t want to pressure you. Plus, there’s the age thing, which is probably even weirder from his end than yours.”

Tim hid behind his hands. “Don’t remind me. Legally, he’s like six years older than me, but chronologically he’s ten years younger and biologically we’re pretty much even. I’m not even totally sure how he ages, he could outlive me by centuries for all I know. And it might not even physically be possible for us to have sex, he could break me or something. Plus there’s the whole Batman and Superman aspect and we’re teammates and-”

“Okay so clearly you’ve thought about this, ” Selina said, looking a little overwhelmed, but quickly getting over it. “First of all, I saw him when he came to pick you up, and I think the age thing is alright. Mentally and biologically is what matters and like you said, you’re pretty evenly matched. Second, he’s a clone of Superman _and_ Lex, and we know Clark ages so you two can probably grow old together if that’s the kind of sappy ending you want to have. Third, concerning the sex thing, if Louis Lane can do it, you can too. Fourth, from what I hear, Clark doesn’t have the ground to stand on when it comes to policing Kon’s personal life and I can take care of Bruce. Lastly, since when has being teammates been an issue? It certainly wasn’t for Dick.”

“You…” Tim sighed, “make a lot of excellent points.”

“Of course I do. I have a lot of experience with emotionally constipated relationships.” Selina said easily, waving a hand as if it wasn’t worth discussing.

“So uh… ” how to put this, “what do those other emotionally constipated couples do?”

Selina laughed. “Honey I said _relationships_ not _couples_. The distinction is important.”

“I don’t think I’m following.”

Selina’s head tilted to the side as she thought for a moment. “Well Harley and Ivy are now living together in addition to their pining, and haven’t done anything more than flirt despite being obviously in love. You already know about the state of my perpetual… _non-_ relationship with Bruce, and how rocky that can be. And if I were to start telling you about the eccentricities of the Rogue gallery’s romantic web, we could be here for hours.”

“Point taken,” Tim conceded.

“In short, I can spot pining from a mile away while disabling a security system, but my idea of ‘romantic’ is purposefully triggering the silent alarm when I rob that jewelry store on 5th.”

Tim probably would have laughed, but a) he had witnessed Selina completing that particular courting ritual multiple times and b) he was totally screwed.

He buried his face in his hands with a groan. “What am I going to do.”

They sat in silence for a moment; Selina examining her nails while she waited for him to finish his pity party, and Tim wallowing in said pity party.

“Father, something has obviously changed. Mother never acts without reason, and these events can hardly be coincidences. Something is afoot. We are missing information.”

“It’s the League Damian, we’re _always_ missing information.” Bruce answered, hiding the frustration in his voice far better than his son.

“What’s going on?” Tim asked as the dynamic duo entered the dining room looking worse for wear, but clean in comfortable civies.

Bruce frowned. “Tim.”

The boy in question rolled his eyes. “I’m not going to get mad that you didn’t take me out last night. I was emotionally compromised, I get it. I still want to know what’s going on.”

Truthfully, he was kind of hurt, but considering everything that had happened, Bruce could have benched him completely, and he needed to remember this fate was comparatively merciful. No reason to pitch a fit over one or two missions.

The lines around Bruce’s mouth tightened, but he answered, “Last night, Thalia’s faction of the League of Assassins made several coordinated attacks against bases controlled by Ra’s al Ghul. From what we can tell, the bases were well protected and pivotal to his force, several even housed high ranking generals and training facilities for new recruits. Thaila was able to take control of all of them, slaughtering or imprisoning the generals and claiming the recruits to fight for her.”

Tim had promised Ra’s he’d regret hurting Kon, and he’d been right. Thalia had put his information to good use. He had to fight tooth and nail to keep the savage satisfaction he felt off his face.

“Grandfather has so far launched no counter attack, leading us to believe this series of battles has shifted the balance of the League’s civil war in mother’s favor.” Damian picked up the story where Bruce left off. “But as father and I were discussing, one of the bases on the list is not like the others. It was attacked at the same time, but it has no military value. From what we can tell, it wasn’t even under grandfather’s control. It was populated and had good security, but when we visited the sight just now, there were no signs of a struggle. If mother’s elite guard had not been spotted in the area, we might have assumed the base had simply been evacuated.”

Bruce was scrutinizing Tim far too closely for his comfort. “What do you make of that Tim?”

What did he make of that? Well, there were many, many possibilities, quite a few of them bad. The base could have been some sort of off books brothel, but it was more likely that it was the safe place Abd al Matin had described as ‘far far away where the demon can never find them’.

The tricky part was what Thalia intended to do with the people she’d taken from that base. Were they leverage? Or was she freeing them?

“It sounds like we’re either missing information about the true value of that base or Thalia took it for a personal reason,” he finally said in response to Bruce’s question.

Damian smiled triumphantly. “Exactly as I was saying. Mother would not take a civilian occupied base without reason.”

Bruce just frowned, finally turning his assessing gaze away from Tim. “And we have no way of knowing what that reason is. The only thing we have to go off of is this picture.” He pulled a small wallet sized portrait of a smiling woman and child from his pocket and showed it to Tim.

“We can’t get an ID on this woman, our system says she doesn’t exist, but we found this photo in the empty base, and a security camera caught sight of her halfway across the world a few hours later. The strangest part is that she was smiling at the camera as if she _wanted_ to be seen.”

Bruce may not have known who the woman was, but Tim recognized the beetle green eyes and the distinctive nose immediately. Those features had been recurring guest stars in his nightmares for the past week.

Tim kept looking at the picture, unable to keep the soft smile off his face this time as he looked at the child and her mother who would finally get a chance to live under Thalia’s protection instead of just surviving.

Thalia was making a peace offering. Assuaging his guilt by sparing and probably protecting the general’s family. No, not a peace offering… Thalia didn’t deal in peace offerings. It was a show of respect. Her way of telling him he’d played the game well, and reminding him why it was a game he should never play again.

What he’d done that night in the name of revenge wasn’t who he was- not really. And it had suddenly become in Thalia’s best interests to make sure he remembered that. Easing his guilt now would make him think twice next time he considered meddling in League affairs.

He was surprised to find he was kind of flattered.

But it didn’t matter. He didn’t plan on ever touching the League again anyway, if he could help it.

“So what are you going to do about the League?” Tim finally asked, eyes flicking from the picture to Bruce.

Bruce was still looking at him like he knew Tim was hiding something, but he just shrugged minutely. “Nothing.”

“What?” Damian sputtered.

Bruce looked at his youngest son. “I said I would remain neutral in their civil war as long as civilians didn’t get hurt, and what we visited had league level security, even if it wasn’t controlled by Ra’s or Thalia. We will continue to look into it, but if we can’t find proof Thalia harmed any civilians, I will remain neutral, and there isn’t anything else we can do.”

Damian frowned at his father, absorbing this information. Tim knew the League would always be a tough subject for him. Years of ingrained instinct was probably screaming at him to get involved in the war. If he would fight for his mother or his grandfather in such a situation, Tim wasn’t sure.

He changed the topic. “Well, civil wars sound fun in all, but I have plans for today,” he said, standing up and taking his cup and plate to the sink.

“You do?” Selina asked with a raised eyebrow and all eyes snapped to her. They’d kind of forgotten she was in the room.

Tim didn’t blame her for disappearing into the wall while they discussed Bruce’s ex.

“Yeah. I need to call Steph first though- for real this time,“ he added with a small smile.

Selina hardly looked convinced, but she didn’t say anything.

Bruce looked between them, sensing a conversation behind their expressions that he wasn’t privy to. “Did we interrupt something?”

“Just breakfast,” Tim and Selina said together.

“Will you be back in time for dinner, Master Timothy?” Alfred asked, making all of them but Bruce jump.

“Alfie, where did you come from?” Tim asked in surprise.

“The attic, Master Timothy,” Alfred said drily.

“Right,” Tim responded with a light blush. “No I don’t think so.”

Alfred nodded in acceptance of this answer. “Very well.”

Tim took that as a dismissal, waving his goodbyes before hightailing it to his room to get dressed.

***

Steph had been so torn about whether or not it was appropriate to yell at Tim for scaring her when she was so proud of him and just happy that he’d finally gotten out, that in the end she just congratulated him and asked in a strangled voice if he’d go shopping with her that weekend because having everything he owned fit in a duffle bag was sad and he needed more clothes that weren’t three-piece suits or hand me down sweatshirts.

Tim admitted he dressed like either a hobo or like he was going to the red carpet with no in between and set a time.

Overall it hadn’t been the most pleasant experience, but Tim was honestly just relieved to hear Steph’s voice.

Just before he hung up, Cass had taken the phone from Steph. She hated phone calls, and she only said three words, but they meant the world to Tim. “Proud. Love you.”

His next call had been a little easier, if only because the person on the other end of the line wasn’t suppressing guilt about his previous living situation.

Minerva had recognized his need for news about someone that wasn’t himself almost immediately and spent the better part of an hour telling him every detail of how she was settling in with Mercury. Frankly they already sounded like an old married couple and it was nice to hear about something so normal- even though he knew both Minerva and Mercury were far from normal.

He envied their domesticity and when he told Minerva so, she laughed, telling him he’d be bored out of his mind, but if he ever wanted a peaceful vacation he was welcome to sleep in their guest room. Only condition was he had to do their laundry and the dishes.

Eventually he’d told her the very short version of what had happened after she’d left. Minerva told him that she was happy he had so many good people around to support him. At least she hadn’t tried to yell at him.

His thankfulness for that didn’t stop him from noticing when she casually asked how Kon was.

He played it off, deciding that he really wasn’t ready to get into another lengthy conversation about how gone he was on his cloneboy. Luckily for him, Minerva was pulled away from the phone by Mercury setting something on fire before she could press him.

Having completed everything he had to get done for the day, Tim paced his room for another twenty minutes while his thoughts chased each other in circles.

In the end, he decided he wasn’t going to get anywhere like this and just called Kon to put himself out of his misery.

“Hey Kon. What’s up?”

“ _Nothing really,_ ” the half Kryptonian replied, “ _We wrapped up our last big mission a week ago, and we haven’t really gotten any since so there isn’t much to do around here._ ”

Tim could certainly sympathize with that.

“ _How about you?_ ”

“Well, I have a to-do list that seems to be growing by the moment, but screw that. I was wondering if you wanted to meet up and make fun of bad movies instead.”

“ _Doesn’t watching bad movies defeat the whole purpose of the movie experience?_ ”

“Don’t be ridiculous, crappy movies are funnier than most intentional comedies.”

Kon hummed, thinking it over. “ _Okay. Prove it. Where do you want to meet up?_ ”

“We can go back to my apartment.”

“ _Okay, I’ll meet you there._ ”

This might end very badly.

***

“That was the crappiest movie I’ve ever seen.”

Tim scoffed. “Of course it was. Sharknado is the pinacle of unintentionally funny shitshows. To the point where it has to be intentional.”

Kon threw a few pieces of popcorn at him. “I can’t believe you just put me through that. My eyes are bleeding, Tim. _Bleeding._ ”

“But did you enjoy it?”

“... the gratuitous violence and terrible plotline were surprisingly entertaining.”

“Ha!” Tim gave a cry of victory.

“Oh shut up,” Kon replied, but he was laughing as he weakly shoving Tim’s feet off his lap.

Tim got up to put in the next movie. “Looks like we’re out of truely crappy movies. Can I interest you in a cheesy rom com?” Kon answered in the affirmative, so Tim put in the movie. Despite shoving his feet off earlier, Kon lifted his hands so Tim could rest his feet there again before dropping his arms on top of Tim and picking up the popcorn bowl again.

Their easy banter kept up through the movie, as they made fun of the characters, the plot, and then the romance. 

“Oh come on! They are _clearly_ in love. Why don’t they just get it over with already and make out?” Kon yelled, throwing more popcorn at the TV. Tim would complain about the mess, but more than half the popcorn gathering at the base of the TV had been thrown by him so… 

Tim shrugged as much as one can shrug while laying down on a couch. “Maybe she’s worried about getting hurt after everything that’s happened to her.”

Kon was quiet for several moments before he softly responded, “And maybe he’s worried that he’s not worthy of her.”

Tim frowned, pushing himself upright so he could look at Kon. “Bullshit. He’s caring, and smart, and he doesn’t get to choose if he’s worthy of her. She does. And clearly she’s made that choice.”

“Well, he would never hurt her. Not in a million years.”

They stared at each other for a long moment before Tim looked away with a sharp laugh, running a hand through his hair. “No. No he wouldn’t.”

A few more moments passed in silence as they watched the movie reach it’s dramatic climax.

“Can I try something?” Tim said abruptly, folding his legs beneath him ad scooting to the middle of the couch so he could face Kon.

Kon looked up at him, and there was no mistaking the way Tim’s eyes kept dropping to his lips. He set aside the popcorn bowl. “Yeah.”

Tim started to lean forward, but he paused. “Close your eyes,” he whispered. Kon obeyed.

Drawing a feather light finger along Kon’s jaw, Tim closed the remaining distance between them, brushing his lips against Kon’s.

It was the lightest of touches, but Kon pressed forward, turning it from a brush into a chaste kiss.

Warmth bloomed in Tim’s gut and quickly spread to the rest of him. It wasn’t like anything else he’d ever felt before and he couldn’t quite describe it. Kon for his part thought if he focused hard enough, he could hear fireworks going off somewhere.

When Tim pulled back, he stayed close enough he could still feel Kon’s breath on his skin. “Good?”

“Good,” Kon confirmed enthusiastically.

The next thing he knew, Tim came crashing down on him, all the chastness of the first kiss gone in one searing moment.

Kon kissed back eagerly, wrapping a hand around the back of Tim’s neck to sink his fingers in Tim’s hair. Tim pulled himself onto Kon’s lap, setting about showing him precisely how little he knew about kissing.

He wasn’t exactly a virgin. He’d been dating M’gann for months, but this… this wasn’t that. With M’gann it had been short and fumbling. Frankly, it had been most comparable to scratching an itch. She was an alien, he was a clone, neither of them knew what they were doing and they hadn’t gotten much better by the time they broke up.

Tim was a whole new game.

It wasn’t just a need he had to take care of, or curiosity, or even straight up want. It was more… complicated than that.

To put it simply, Kon wanted to take Tim apart with his mouth piece by piece just to see what Tim would look like when Kon drove him crazy. And from the way Tim broke off their kiss and began tracing a fiery line down Kon’s neck, he felt the same.

“Holy Raoh birdie if you keep doing that we’re both about to be very embarrassed.”

Tim rocked forward on Kon’s lap, feeling _exactly_ what he meant.

He pulled away laughing. When they’d both regained their breath, Tim bit his lip, looking at Kon questioningly as he played with the hem of his t-shirt.

Kon’s blood went south. “ _Tim._ ” Screw dignity, it came out _needy._ Tim’s heartbeat picked up at the sound. It took great physical effort for Kon not to say, ‘yes, please, take me now’.

“Are you sure you want to? I’m fine with this. More than fine actually.”

Tim’s hands froze where they’d still been playing with Kon’s shirt, his expression going from playful to shocked and then to something else entirely as he blushed, looking away from Kon.

“Tim?” Kon asked uncertainty.

Laughing almost bitterly, Tim looked back at him with a completely straight face. “Kon, I have literally never felt more turned on than when you just asked me if I was sure.”

Now Kon was the one who was blushing. “Oh.” His voice came out strangled.

Tim rewarded him with a kiss, sweeter than the others. When he pulled away he finally addressed Kon’s question. “My body is pretty damn certain and I’m not exactly about to fight that, but I don’t know if I’ll feel different once we’re… “

“That is absolutely okay,” Kon reassured, gently cupping Tim’s jaw. The boy leaned into his touch. “Anytime, you hear? Anytime you say stop, and I’ll stop. No questions asked. Even if I’m right on the edge and you’ve already said yes to everything else. Just _promise_ me you’ll let me know if you want to stop.”

Tim groaned burying his head in Kon’s shoulder. “How are you so perfect?”

“Tim… ”

He pulled away, wrapping both arms loosely around Kon’s neck. “I promise.”

Kon grinned from ear to ear. “Well in that case… “

Tim leaned in to kiss him again, pausing with their lips just millimeters apart. “And you’re sure too?”

“Abso-fucking-lutely.”

Kon tugged his shirt off and tossed it away.

Tim took the opportunity to run his hands up and down Kon’s chest, memorizing every muscle.

“You’re not watching the movie, right?”

The question caught Kon off guard. “Not anymore.”

“So you wouldn’t mind if we moved somewhere we can stretch out?”

Well then.

Kon stood up in one smooth movement, supporting Tim by his thighs and carrying him to the bedroom.

Tim laughed, lowering his mouth to suck on Kon’s pulse point in an effort to distract him. It worked as far as a small stumble, but they made it to the bed without incident.

Setting Tim down gently, Kon wasn’t even sure where to start, but Tim solved the problem for him by slowly unzipping his hoodie as he stared up at Kon. “You just gonna watch clone boy? ‘Cause I can work with that.”

Laughing softly, Kon sunk to his knees so he had to look up slightly to maintain eye contact. “I can do a whole lot better than that.” He caught Tim’s lips in a searing kiss, placing his hands on Tim’s thighs and nudging his way between them until the were almost flush.

Without pulling away, Tim pulled his hoodie the rest of the way off and cupped Kon’s face with his suddenly free hands, pulling them impossibly closer.

Kon’s hands moved up and down over Tim’s jeans before sliding to the small of Tim’s back and up.

Kon had, of course, seen Tim shirtless before. Occasionally in the showers after a mission, once or twice in the med bay, most recently right after Tim had woken up from sleeping in _Kon’s_ bed and he’d been too asleep to remember to cover up. He knew Tim had scars.

Knowing wasn’t the same as feeling. He broke away to just _look_ at Tim. He knew by human vigilante standards, Tim’s skin was pretty unblemished, but they were still there. Smooth white lines that crossed his body, some longer and thicker than others. 

“Kon?” Tim asked, his voice suddenly tentative.

Kon reached out gently, brushing his fingers against one of the scars he knew well. “Remember this?”

”I remember all of them,” Tim said automatically, but a smile was tugging at his lips. 

The scar looked years old, but Tim had only gotten it a few weeks ago. “‘Just a mugging,’” Kon quoted. “I still can’t believe you almost bled out and it was ‘just a mugging’.”

Tim smiled. “Is that the part of that story you want to focus on?”

Something in his voice made Kon look up.

Tim pulled Kon towards him gently with two fingers under his chin until they were nose to nose. “ _I need you._ ”

_Fuck._

Kon’s blood rushed back down and he kissed Tim frantically, picking the smaller boy up again and moving to sit on the bed with his back against the headboard. Tim would probably be more comfortable on top.

Pulling his mouth away from Tim’s, he dragged it down the other boy’s chest, listening carefully to the way Tim whined to guide his actions.

When he got to the top of Tim’s abs, he paused, smiling into the skin there. “Beautiful. Just… _beautiful._ ”

Tim’s breath caught. His hand fell lazily into Kon’s hair.

”What’s this one from?” Kon murmured, dragging his finger along a short nick along Tim’s side.

”Batarang training.”

Kon moved to a longer one that was faint across his stomach, looking up at Tim questioningly.

”Fell off a fire escape.”

A circle on Tim’s shoulder that probably used to be a bullet hole.

”Two Face.”

A neat vertical cut on the center of his stomach.

”Splenectomy.”

He’d wanted to take Tim apart… honestly this was even better than he’d imagined.

Tim pulled him gently up, kissing him on the mouth soundly. “Do you expect me to let you have all the fun?” He accompanied the words with a purposeful brush of his hand where Kon needed it most that made him moan.

Smiling against Kon’s lips, Tim started unbuckling his belt with one hand. “Can I?”

Kon couldn’t help but grin at that. “Hell yes.”

***

When Kon opened his eyes, Tim was watching him from the doorway wearing nothing but a pair of boxers and _Kon’s_ shirt.

Yup. Tim in his clothes was totally going to be a _thing_ for him.

Based on Tim’s laugh, Kon had said that out loud.

“Yes, you did.” Tim told him, pushing off the doorway to climb back into bed. He lay down on his side so they were almost nose to nose.

Kon took this obvious opportunity to place his hand on Tim’s hip, pushing up the shirt a little to rub slow circles into the skin there.

“Hi,” Tim said quietly, unable to stop smiling.

“Hi,” Kon returned with a similar blissful expression.

In a moment of realization that was shockingly easy for him to accept, it occured to Kon that if he could freeze them in this moment forever, he would.

Tim was on the verge of saying something. Kon could tell by the careful look in his eyes and the way he bit his lip, but Kon didn’t rush him. For once they had all the time in the world.

“Do you remember when I told you you’re always surprising me? While we were driving back from that mission with Red Hood?”

Kon squeezed Tim’s hip gently in affirmation.

“I think I have a theory on why I couldn’t figure you out.” He paused gathering his courage one last time before going on, “I was missing a variable; I didn’t know what it was to be loved. I thought love was something you said to convey obedience and that the kind of sappy stuff you see in movies was for other people. Because of that, I couldn’t fathom why you would help me. Or... even talk to me really. And now I think it was because you…”

“Because I love you,” Kon breathed. No point dancing around it now. He’d made his feelings pretty clear last night, albeit with actions instead of words.

Tim’s eyes flicked between both of Kon’s as he unconsciously leaned even closer. “Yeah. That.” He swallowed. “But my theory doesn’t end there. I also think that I love you back. I think that’s the feeling I get when you enter a room and I automatically smile. When I see you and- just for a second- I can’t remember to breath- but it doesn’t scare me because I know I’ll be okay. Or when- when I break down every time I think someone might hurt you. The way your safety and your happiness is always more important than the mission, and I know I’d go to the ends of the earth and beyond for you- not because I’m scared of you or feel obligated to, but because I’d _want_ to. ‘Cause you’d be there waiting for me and that would make everything worth it.”

Tim hesitated a moment, bringing his hand up to cup Kon’s jaw as he let his words sink in. “You make me a better person. Because of you, I was able to find the strength to stand up for myself like I’ve always stood up for others. You remind me that life is worth living outside of being a hero and you never fail to make me smile. I can’t be sure that’s love because honestly, I’ve just been putting a name to it in the last, like, two weeks, but it sounds a hell of a lot like it to me. I love you Kon-El. I’m in love with you. So I guess what I’m trying to say is… will you be my boyfriend? If you’ll have me, I’d like to call you my clone boy for a very long time.”

That was… that was the most words Kon had ever heard Tim say in a row.

“ _Tim-_ ” Kon had to force himself to use his words when all he wanted to do was hold the smaller boy close and never let go. Warmth was spreading through his chest that had absolutely nothing to do with what they did last night and everything to do with how much he loved the boy in bed with him. “There’s nothing I want more.”

Tim’s smile turned Kon to putty, lighting up the small bedroom like a thousand suns. He kissed his _boyfriend_ lightly, resting their foreheads together and just breathing each other in.

They were heroes. They always put others before themselves, and life threatening situations were par for the course. Realistically, bullet proof or not, they could die any day.

In that moment, Kon forgot about all of that. Tim made it so easy to believe there was a future. Something beyond this fight, beyond the next crisis. Something that was more than just surviving and protecting others. Tim made Kon feel like his existence wasn’t a mistake or a failed experiment. He made Kon feel like he was something special- _someone_ special- that deserved the same love everyone else got and more.

One day he would tell Tim all of that. He would tell Tim about all the times Red Robin had saved Kon in ways that were more than just physical. And even if it took the rest of their lives, he would spend everyday making sure Tim knew how loved he was.

“Kon?”

“Yeah?”

“Aren’t you so glad I’m not on truth serum this time?”

Kon laughed, kissing the smirk of Tim’s face. Before murmuring against his lips, “Yeah. I am.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tah dah!!!! If you’re still here, consider me impressed because this fic got RIDICULOUSLY LONG. And yes, this is the end. Gotta be honest, I’m kind of sad. Not sure what I’ll do with myself when this fic isn’t eating up all my spare time. Probably actually sleep.
> 
> Seriously though, thank you for reading, and leaving kudos, and commenting, and all your wonderful support because writing is 10x harder without you. Trust me on this. I read every comment and I try to respond to most of them (albeit a week later) but I get really flustered so just know that I read all of them and I appreciated every single one, even if I don’t respond.
> 
> I’m sorry this ending might be a bit rushed, but frankly I ran out of patience because I wanted to get to the kissing and more improtently the confession I've been builing for months. After 120,000 words, I’m sure you can sympathize. Next week I’ll post the epilogue and an extra I wrote about Tim’s birthday that I’ll write as a new work, but put it in the ‘Everybody lies in the cave’ series. (honestly I had so much fun with that! Its pure comedy and fluff, no angst)


	33. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When I opened my inbox and read all the comments left on the last chapter, my heart was beating so fast I thought it would burst out of my chest. Words cannot describe how thankful I am and I… just… wow. The support for this fic has been amazing and I don’t think I’ll ever be able to say this enough, but _thank you_.

**Gotham’s Newest Vigilante?**

_Written by Vicki Vale_

_Posted 4 weeks ago_

For those gothamites who are avid followers of the vigilante community, you’ll know that one month ago *Red Robin all but disappeared from the cape scene, leaving his fellow Gotham capes to cover his usual **territory. This loss shocked Gothamites as no battle was reported that could have taken the politest of Gotham’s vigilantes out of commision.

Red Robin has long been a fan favorite for many of Gotham’s milder citizens who prefer an older vigilante than Robin, but a more fun one than Batman and don’t agree with the Red Hood’s methods. He particularly appeals to teenagers who can identify with his coffee addiction (as evidenced by the countless stories of bewildered baristas who have received late night visits for black coffee). Other notable stories include the famous Karaoke Video in which he sang Stressed Out by Twenty One Pilots and the common knowledge that if you yell at just the right time of night, he’ll come help you study for finals.

Since he disappeared, his many fans have been busy theorizing and speculating about what could have happened to the witty hero. Most of those theories suggest he is merely on a break or even that he left Gotham, but it would seem his absence may be more permanent than we knew.

Reports have been pouring in from what used to be Red Robin’s territory of a new vigilante on the crime fighting scene. Early eye witness reports claimed Catwoman saved them from being mugged, but since then, they have clarified that it is not in fact Catwoman patrolling Gotham, but a new player calling himself Stray.

As of now, it is unclear if Stray is working with the other Gotham vigilantes, but so far Batman has made no effort to pursue our newest hero.

{IMAGE DESCRIPTION: Stray standing on top of a low building, lit by street lights and grinning maniacally as he waves at the camera.}

Photographer Joey Day captured an exclusive picture of Stray, and it’s clear why early reports confused him with Catwoman. Unlike the famous thief however, he fights with a bow staff, just like the crime fighter who patrolled the streets before him. Eye witnesses also said that he was a lot more talkative than Red Robin and favored sarcastic remarks as he expertly took down criminals.

We don’t yet know what Stray will be like, or who he is affiliated with, but from what we do know, he seems a worthy successor to protect Red Robin’s neighborhood.

The fact that he’s topped the Gotham’s hottest vigilante pole in a single week based off one picture has to help.

*Red Robin- first became active one month after reports stating that Robin had became more violent, acting like a different boy all together, began surfacing. Read **here** for theories on Red Robin’s origins, ranging from fantastical-- he’s the result of illegal genetic cloning and a steamy affair between Batman and Red Hood that may have shaped the ex-Gotham drug lord into the criminal he was or caused his change of heart for the better-- to the more subdued-- Red Robin lost a fight against Robin for the title and was forced to take on a secondary persona to be trained.

**Territory- based on sightings, it has become evident that different vigilantes patrol different areas, Red Hood sticking to crime alley when he’s in town, Batgirl preferring the area between the slums and the residential neighborhood near Gotham Academy. Red Robin’s territory used to be everything between Tricorner and the edges of Chinatown.

 

**Superboy Dating New Gotham Vigilante**

_Written by Louis Lane_

_Posted 2 weeks ago_

When Superboy showed up in Metropolis years ago, citizens were shocked by his resemblance to Superman and opposing personality. Big blue himself was quick to come forward and assure the public that though he can’t say where Superboy came from, he is trustworthy. Metropolitans were skeptical, but Superboy has proved himself a hundred times over since then and has not only become a trusted hero, but a likable one.

Considering his good looks, it was unsurprising that many citizens were curious about his love life. Unfortunately for those citizens, Superboy’s media presence is minimal compared to his mentor’s. There were rumors several years ago that Superboy was dating *Miss Martian, and plenty of others besides in the intervening time, but nothing concrete. A ship known as **Superbird has recently been rising in popularity, but since Red Robin went missing over a month ago, the ship has mostly died out.

That speculation ends today because of stunning photos captured by our own Jimmy Olsen that depict our beloved hero in a more than friendly embrace with Gotham’s newest hero, Stray.

{IMAGE DESCRIPTION: Superboy with his arms wrapped around Stray’s waist, pulling the smaller boy onto his toes for a kiss.}

Superboy was taking care of a hostage situation at a prominent Metropolis charity event when one of the masked criminals pulled out a shard of kryptonite. Our hero continued fighting, but was losing badly when none other than Stray showed up on the scene, quickly dispatching the remaining villains and reportedly scolding Superboy extensively for getting in over his head.

The scolding turned to heavy flirting while Stray tied up the would be kidnappers which resulted in a heated kiss before the two left the scene.

This relationship confirms long standing rumours about Superboy’s sexuality, in fact, #That’sGayerThanSuperboy and #Cat’sGotGame are trending on multiple social media platforms.

Since this picture surfaced, both heroes have agreed to lead the pride parades that will take place in June in their respective cities. This marks a new age in Superhero acceptance. Long gone are the days of controversy around Robin dating Kid Flash. Now young Superheroes have become the protectors of the LBGTQ+ community, with reports like Blue Beetle stopping hate crimes in El Paso and Kid Flash yelling at a homophobic group for several hours after stopping them from shooting the occupants of a gay bar in Central City, until he had to be pulled away by the Flash.

The Justice League has made it clear where they stand in the LGBTQ+ conversation several times over the year, but most prominently with the iconic speech Batman gave two years ago in which the ordinarily stoic vigilante got so worked up Superman himself had to pull him off the podium. However, even with the overwhelming support from Superheroes, it’s an indescribable feeling for young LGBTQ+ kids to not only know their heroes support them, but that those heroes are just like them. Particularly two heroes who are so prominent from two cities that are so different.

When we reached out to Superman for a statement about the new couple, this is what he had to say:

“Superboy is a good kid, and this relationship has been a long time coming,” he said seriously before adding, “We all support their relationship of course, even Batman although he’d never admit it, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the Gotham heroes spend the next few weeks hazing Superboy. I expect some amount of kryptonite and glaring will be involved.”

Maybe this relationship will bring Metropolis and Gotham closer together, but if Superman’s words hold true, it could be an interesting few weeks ahead of us.

*Miss Martian- active for more than five years as a justice league member, closely affiliated with Martian Manhunter.

**Superbird- the slash pairing of Superboy and Red Robin, recently rising in popularity when the two were seen fighting and bantering together during such times as the Robot Uprising two years ago; the 3rd GIA (Great Alien Invasion) fourteen months ago; the Roomba Revolution eleven months ago (that we’d all rather forget, but did provide some unforgettable Superbird photage of the two fighting back to back); the zombie apocalypse (in Gotham) seven months ago; and the 4th GIA just four months ago.

 

 

If you liked these articles might we suggest:

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_”I’m really excited about the process of running a company,” says the newly made billionaire, “but I want to do it right, and that means going to college first. I plan to…_

Tim Drake Spotted With No-Name Blond; A New Power Couple?

_Shoppers at Gotham Mall were shocked this Saturday to see billionaire teenager Tim Drake on what appeared to be a date with an unknown blond female, but not shocked enough to forget to take pictures…_

Tim Drake Confirms His Relationship Status Over… Twitter?

_After laughing for a solid minute when confronted about his supposed date last Saturday, all Tim Drake told the reporters was, “Yeah right.” Later that evening he posted this link on his twitter account along with a heartfelt note to young LGBTQ+ kids everywhere… _

After Shocking Coming Out, Tim Drake Hosts Fundraiser For LGBT Rights, Guess Who Made A Surprise Appearance?

_In by far the most colorful event of the year (Literally. Check out this_ article about our new LGBT fashion icons) Tim Drake was able to raise a whopping $800,000 in donations for at risk LGBT youth, but the surprise of the evening? Superboy. This could…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There you go. One day early because I love you <3 (totally not because I won’t have time tomorrow- what?? Psh.) And the link Tim posted was  
> https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v%3Dz3ECU6xtp68&sa=D&ust=1545013137831000&usg=AFQjCNEnuTtrRKnjKkVsdtbAvSo4wreZLw
> 
> I tried to keep this fluffy, but then it occured to me that icon and intrepid reporter Louis Lane would not write a straight up fluff piece and I got a bit political… not even sorry.
> 
> (shameless self promotion time) Don’t forget to check out the birthday fic posted in this series!!


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